SCOTLAND

Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of the office space owned or leased by his Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such unused office space; and if he will place in the Library a copy of his most recent departmental real estate valuation.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has no unused office space in its two buildings. Both are leasehold buildings. The Scotland Office does not have a real estate valuation.

Common Agricultural Policy

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the First Minister on Common Agricultural Policy implications for Scotland post-2014; and if he will make a statement.

David Mundell: There have been no recent discussions with the First Minister on Common Agricultural Policy implications for Scotland post-2014. I hold regular discussions with the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment in the Scottish Government who has lead portfolio responsibility for agricultural policy in Scotland.

Pay

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many civil servants are on each pay grade in his Department.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office pay grade breakdown as at 31 December 2013 was:
	
		
			 Grade Number 
			 Band E-F 7.2 
			 Band D-B 34.6 
			 Band A 14 
			 SCS 5

Property

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by his Department.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not own any property. It occupies and shares two buildings with other Government bodies. The Scotland Office occupies 519 square metres floor space in Dover House in London, and 589 square metres floor space in Melville Crescent in Edinburgh. Both buildings are leased. Their value is a matter for the owners of the buildings.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland 
	(1)  which paid public appointment contracts he has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men;
	(2)  what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by his Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women.

David Mundell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 607W, by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude).

Royal Family: Official Residences

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had about public access to Royal Residences in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has had no recent discussions regarding public access to Royal Residences in Scotland.

Staff

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of staff of his Department work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.

David Mundell: As at 31 December 2013, 65% of Scotland Office staff work outside of London and are located in the city of Edinburgh local authority area.

WALES

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by his Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women;
	(2)  which paid public appointment contracts he has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men.

Stephen Crabb: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 607W, by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude).

NORTHERN IRELAND

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  which paid public appointment contracts she has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men;
	(2)  what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by her Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women.

Theresa Villiers: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 607W, by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude).

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Energy: Prices

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Ofgem in regulating the energy market to protect the interests of consumers.

Michael Fallon: The Government reviewed the overall role of Ofgem after it took office. The “Ofgem Review: Final Report” (July 2011) can be found on gov.uk at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48134/2151-ofgem-review-final-report.pdf
	A copy of this document will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
	The review identified a need for greater role clarity between Ofgem and the Government and recommended that the Government should establish a new statutory strategy and policy statement (SPS). The SPS will improve alignment between Government’s strategic priorities and the regulator, and define policy outcomes that Government considers Ofgem to have a particularly important role in delivering. It will also increase Ofgem’s accountability.
	The Energy Act 2013 introduced the legal framework for the SPS. My Department intends to consult on the draft SPS by summer 2014. Ofgem, the Office for Fair Trading and the Competition and Markets Authority are currently undertaking the first annual competition assessment for the gas and electricity markets. They are planning on publishing their report in spring 2014.

Equality

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the (a) total departmental expenditure, (b) number and (c) cost of people employed for the purpose of promoting equality and diversity was for each of the last five years.

Gregory Barker: The total departmental expenditure (excluding salary costs) by the Department of Energy and Climate Change on promoting equality and diversity was (using rounded up figures):
	2008 to 2010—£0
	2010 to 2011—£31,000
	2011 to 2012—£55,000
	2012 to 2013—£32,000
	1 April 2013 to 31 December 2013—£5,000.
	The number and cost of staff employed on promoting equality and diversity is:
	2010 to 2011—1 HEO member of staff, salary band £29,261 to £34,424
	2011 to 2012—1 HEO member of staff, salary band £29,261 to £34,424
	2012 to 2013—0.5% HEO member of staff, salary band £29,554 to £34,424, plus 1 Grade 7, salary band £47,445 to £56,597
	1 April 2013 to 31 December 2013—0.5 Grade 7, plus 1 Grade 7, salary band £47,445 to £56,597.
	The Department currently has 0.5 full-time equivalents at Grade 7 (salary band £47,445 to £56,597) employed for the purpose of managing diversity and inclusion and the promotion of equality and diversity.
	Due to the low numbers of staff involved it is not possible to give exact salary details under the Data Protection Act.

Procurement

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his Department's 10 largest contracts let since the financial year 2010-11 are; what savings have been made in such contracts; what the level of overspend or underspend was in each such contract; and what steps his Department has taken to monitor the performance of each supplier following the contract award.

Gregory Barker: The information requested is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. The directorates of the Department of Energy and Climate Change carry out their own purchasing with professional support from a procurement team.
	Contracts of the Department are published on the Cabinet Office website which can be found at:
	www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk
	The Department would be able to provide further information by narrowing the scope, if specific procurement projects were identified.
	A contract management review project is currently under way in the Department to improve capability and contract management arrangements.

Renewable Energy

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with which local authorities his Department has had discussions regarding taking part in the Community Energy Scheme announced in December 2013.

Gregory Barker: On 27 January 2014, the Department of Energy and Climate Change published its Community Energy Strategy, available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-energy-strategy
	In parallel with publication, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), wrote jointly with Councillor Mike Jones, housing and environment chairman of the Local Government Association, to the leaders of all local authorities in England, drawing their attention to the Community Energy Strategy.
	During the course of developing the strategy, DECC officials held discussions with various local authorities, including the London borough of Lambeth, Plymouth city council and Oxford city council.

Renewable Energy: Scotland

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government about extending the Community Energy Scheme to local authorities in Scotland.

Gregory Barker: On 27 January 2014, the Department of Energy and Climate Change published its Community Energy Strategy, available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-energy-strategy
	The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), wrote to Fergus Ewing MSP, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, on 13 January 2014, ahead of the publication of the Community Energy Strategy. Many areas of energy and climate change policy are devolved in Scotland, but some sections of the strategy are of particular importance there, including electricity generation, some aspects of energy efficiency, roll-out of smart meters and smart grids.
	Key announcements in the strategy which apply to Scotland are as follows:
	A UK-wide competition to encourage innovative community approaches to saving money or energy.
	A taskforce from the renewables industry which will work with the community energy sector and report to the Secretary of State with a robust framework and timetable for implementing a substantial increase in the shared ownership of renewables developments in the UK.
	A working group on grid connections to examine existing processes, identifying the difficulties that they pose to community groups and proposing workable solutions to the Secretary of State. Policy on grid connections is Great Britain-wide, and will include representatives from distribution network operators across the whole of Great Britain as well as a representative of Community Energy Scotland.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Domestic Violence: Prosecutions

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Attorney-General how many victimless prosecutions for domestic violence-related offences there have been in each year since 2009 for which figures are available.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service does not maintain a central record of victimless prosecutions, including domestic violence cases. To obtain details of the number of victimless prosecutions for domestic violence-related offences, would require a manual exercise of reviewing individual case files to be undertaken at a disproportionate cost.

Pay

Ian Austin: To ask the Attorney-General how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) the Law Officers’ Departments and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Oliver Heald: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Headcount1 
			 Pay grade CPS SFO TSol2 
			 Administrative Assistant 63 — — 
			 Administrative Officer/Personal Secretary 1,821 25 97 
			 Executive Officer 1,371 64 148 
			 Higher Executive Officer 289 58 61 
			 Senior Executive Officer 149 47 29 
			 Grade 7 294 65 467 
			 Grade 6 147 38 428 
			 Legal Trainee 22 — 30 
			 Legal Officer — — 40 
			 Associate Prosecutor 330 — — 
			 Crown Prosecutor 29 — — 
			 Senior Crown Prosecutor 1,502 — — 
			 Special Prosecutor 164 — — 
			 Crown Advocate 424 — — 
			 Senior Crown Advocate 40 — — 
			 Principal Crown Advocate 20 — — 
			 Senior Legal Advisor 2 — — 
			 Senior Legal Manager 54 — — 
			 Senior Civil Servant 12 13 117 
			 Permanent Secretary — — 1 
			 Total 6,733 310 1,418 
			 1 Data as at 31 January 2014. 2 Data also covers the Attorney-General’s Department and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.

Property

Ian Austin: To ask the Attorney-General what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) the Law Officers’ Departments and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Oliver Heald: The Attorney-General’s Office (AGO) leases one property. The Attorney-General’s Office leases one site at 20 Victoria street, London, SW1H ONF and occupy a total of 784.6m2. This has a rateable value of £500,000.
	The Treasury Solicitor’s Department (TSol) lease the following buildings located in London, Croydon and Taunton. HMCPSI is a sub-lessee of accommodation in TSol’s London building and also part occupy Foss house in York. This building is owned by DEFRA. HMCPSI do not pay any rent to DEFRA.
	
		
			 Property Floor space (m2) Rental value per annum (£) 
			 One Kemble Street, London WC2B 4TS 11,117.5 3,572,590.47 
			 Southern House, Wellesley Grove, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 7HJ 507 49,680.96 
			 Riverside Chambers, Castle Street, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 4AP 2,946 472,103.80 
		
	
	The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) occupies 3,196 square metres of property at 2-4 Cockspur street, London SW1 under a leasehold agreement. The property has a rateable value of £1.76 million.
	The SFO has some additional flexible accommodation requirements for large ‘blockbuster’ investigations, such as that into the LIBOR matter, which have been met by using some incremental space that the landlord has made available in the same building. This space has the same rental value as the rest of the main office space the SFO uses.
	The Grown Prosecution Service (CPS) currently occupies 49 premises, two of which are owned, 35 commercially leased, two on leases from local authorities, one on a lease from a police authority, six MOTO’s (memorandum of terms of occupation) from other Government Departments. CPS also has licences for occupation (by desk) at three National Crime Agency offices. Details of these properties are set out in a table which has been deposited in the Library of the House.

Staff

Ian Austin: To ask the Attorney-General what proportion of staff of (a) the Law Officers’ Departments and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.

Oliver Heald: As at 31 December 2013, 78.5% of Crown Prosecution Service employees held posts that were based outside of London. The Department occupies premises nationwide and does not keep detailed central records as to which premises fall under each local authority, such information could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
	The proportion of staff in the Treasury Solicitor’s Department, Attorney-General’s Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate who currently work outside of London is 2%.
	The local authorities in which such staff are located are:
	Warrington Borough Council
	Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Council
	Bristol City Council
	Leeds City Council
	City of York Council
	Currently 1.3% of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) staff are contracted to work outside of London, they are based within the county councils of Lancashire, Derbyshire, Sheffield and Durham.

Taxation: Fraud

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many cases of tax fraud were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for a pre-charging decision in each of the last five years; and how many of those cases were (a) subject to a decision to take no further action, (b) disposed of out of court, (c) prosecuted, (d) prosecuted successfully and (e) prosecuted successfully where the defendant contested the charge.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of cases referred to it for a pre-charge decision (PCD). It is not possible to identify how many of these cases contained one or more charges relating to a tax fraud offence. Such information could be obtained only through a manual search of records which would incur disproportionate cost.
	Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs records data on referrals to the CPS.
	HMRC have made a commitment to ensure year on year increases in the number of cases they will refer to the CPS for prosecution from 2010 up to 2015. They are on target to meet that commitment.
	The CPS collects data to assist in the effective management of its prosecution functions. The CPS does not collect data which constitutes official statistics as defined in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Taxation: Fraud

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many cases of tax fraud the Crown Prosecution Service (a) charged, (b) disposed of out of court, (c) prosecuted, (d) prosecuted successfully and (e) prosecuted successfully where the defendant contested the charge in each financial year since 2010-11.

Oliver Heald: Tax fraud comprises a range of different offences covered by various pieces of legislation and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) do not maintain a central record of cases classified as ‘tax fraud’.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claiming employment and support allowance and issued with a sanction did not keep their claim live in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.

Esther McVey: The information requested on the number of employment and support allowance claimants issued with a sanction who did not keep their claim live is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the implications for the collection of the under-occupancy penalty of the decision of the Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) on 10 January 2014, Appeal No. CH/140/2013, to dismiss the appeal against the decision of the appeal tribunal sitting at Bolton on 18 September 2012.

Steve Webb: Upper Tribunal decision (CH/140/2013) relates to the award of local housing allowance not the removal of the spare room subsidy.
	The Department has considered the Tribunal's decision in depth, and whilst we do not agree with some aspects of it the outcome is correct. The Department has therefore decided not to appeal the decision further.
	If this Upper Tribunal decision is relied upon in subsequent First-tier tribunal decisions on the removal of the spare room subsidy the Department will consider whether it is appropriate to intervene in individual cases.

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2014, Official Report, column 732W, on jobseeker’s allowance: York, how many individuals there were with an adverse jobseeker’s allowance sanction decision in (a) City of York, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) England in (i) October 2012 and (ii) each month since then.

Esther McVey: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Number of individuals with an adverse jobseeker's allowance (JSA) sanction decision by area and month: 22 October 2012 to 30 June 2013 
			  England Yorkshire and Humberside York local authority 
			 22 October to 31 October 21,490 2,720 70 
			 November 2012 56,080 6,930 180 
			 December 2012 45,800 6,260 110 
			 January 2013 56,540 7,560 200 
			 February 2013 44,220 5,260 160 
			 March 2013 48,560 5,890 150 
			 April 2013 55,150 6,600 130 
			 May 2013 57,300 6,960 160 
			 June 2013 52,200 6,920 140 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Data are to 30 June 2013 which is the latest available information. 3. Figures may include individuals who have had more than one adverse sanction decision e.g. if an individual has a sanction applied in two different months, they will appear in each month above. 4. New sanctions rules came into force for JSA from 22 October 2012. The number of sanctions applied is the number of low, intermediate, and high level referrals where the decision was found against the claimant. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jobseekers-allowance-overview-of-sanctions-rules Source: DWP: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics database

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2014, Official Report, column 732W, on jobseeker's allowance, on which date in each of the months referred to in the answer his Department conducted its count of the number of individuals with an adverse jobseeker's allowance decision.

Esther McVey: The figures are compiled by extracting the number of unique individuals that received an adverse sanction decision on any day during each calendar month shown, apart from October 2012 which covers the period from 22 October to 31 October 2012.

Jobseeker’s Allowance: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2014, Official Report, column 732W, on jobseeker's allowance: York, 
	(1)  how many people in York Central constituency who had their benefit suspended as a result of an adverse jobseeker's allowance (JSA) sanction decision had their JSA restored (a) at the end of and (b) earlier than the end of their sanction period in (i) October 2012 and (ii) each month since then;
	(2)  what the average period was for which jobseeker's allowance (JSA) was suspended for the 960 individuals from York Central constituency whose JSA was subjected to an adverse sanction decision between 22 October 2012 and 30 June 2013; and what the average period of suspension was for sanctioned JSA claimants in the UK over the same period.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	It may be helpful to clarify that jobseeker's allowance is not suspended following an adverse decision, a sanction is applied and they retain their rights to passported benefits such as housing benefit. However for claimants that fail to be available for work or actively seek work, their claim is disallowed and they do not retain their right to passported benefits, but can reclaim JSA immediately followed by a sanction of up to four weeks.

Pay

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him;
	(2)  what proportion of staff of (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.

Michael Penning: The table shows the number of civil servants by pay grade as at 31 December 2013 in the Department and its associated public bodies, that employ civil servants.
	DWP no longer has agencies.
	
		
			 Pay grade Department for Work and Pensions Health and Safety Executive Independent Living Fund National Employment Savings Trust Corporation 
			 Band A/AA 2,741 - 8 - 
			 Band B/AO 44,563 513 64 - 
			 Band C/EO 39,898 465 27 - 
			 Band D/HEO 7,172 404 11 - 
			 Band E/SEO 2,605 1,262 * - 
			 Band F/G7 1,518 534 * - 
			 Band G/G6 621 112 * - 
		
	
	
		
			 Senior Civil Servants 218 31 - * 
			 Other/Not Known 7 - - - 
			 Grand total 99,343 3,321 119 * 
			 * Numbers below 5 are redacted to prevent identification of individuals 
		
	
	The proportion of staff working outside London in the Department and its associated public bodies as at 31 December 2013 is in the following table.
	
		
			 Department/public body Percentage of employees outside London 
			 Department for Work and Pensions 90 
			 Health and Safety Executive 93 
			 Independent Living Fund 100 
			 National Employment Savings Trust 5.8 
		
	
	A table showing each local authority where the Department and public bodies listed have staff will be placed in the Library.

Property

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Michael Penning: The information requested in parts (a), (b), (c) and (d) in the question above are contained in the document DWP Properties which will be placed in the Library.
	In respect of (e) the value of each of the properties that the Department occupies is commercially sensitive and any disclosure would adversely affect HMG's future ability to negotiate efficiencies and achieve value for money to the taxpayer.
	The vast majority of the properties are under leasehold arrangements through a PFI arrangement with only a small number being owned by NDPBs.
	Some of the DWP NDPBs occupy space within the wider DWP estate and are not shown separately as these are covered by the existing tenure of DWP.
	The various tenures are identified as such in the listings. A number of properties are shown as tenure being under a MOTO (a Memorandum of Terms of Occupation—part of the Civil Estate Occupancy Agreement) where DWP occupies space owned/leased by another Government Department.

Social Security Benefits

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2014, Official Report, column 274W, on social security benefits, when his Department started making arrangements to carry out a review; how many staff are assigned to the review; and what the cost of the review has been to date.

Steve Webb: We have been discussing the review with local authorities and their representative organisations, as part of our overall discussions about the reforms, since we announced our intention to review in January 2012.
	There have been some minimal costs associated with this. I will be able to provide more detail when the review has been completed.

Social Security Benefits

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that the proportion of households in the UK receiving more in cash benefits than paying in total tax is reduced from 37.8 per cent.

Esther McVey: Universal credit, which replaces six existing benefits with a simpler monthly payment, for claimants who are in, or out-of-work, began rolling out in April 2013. Universal credit will create a simpler, fairer benefits system and aims to make sure claimants are better off in work than on benefits. It will save the Government money and deliver significant wider economic benefits.
	We estimate that 2.4 million working families will be better off as a result of universal credit, and that universal credit could lead to the equivalent of up to 300,000 additional people in work through improved financial incentives, increased simplicity of the system and increased conditionality.
	From April 2013 we introduced a cap on the total amount of benefit that working-age people can receive so that no household can get more in out of work benefits than the average working family earns. The benefit cap has been set at £500 a week for couples (with or without children) and single parent households, with a lower cap of £350 a week for single adult households. The purpose of the benefit cap is to achieve long term positive behavioural effects through changed attitudes to welfare, responsible life choices and strong work incentives.
	In addition to this the removal of the spare room subsidy has ensured that housing benefit in the social rented sector only meets the cost of accommodation appropriate to a household's needs and introduces some parity of treatment between the private and social rented sectors, with claimants in the social sector having to make similar decisions to those in the private sector about affordability.

Unemployed People: Basic Skills

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2014, Official Report, column 421W, on unemployed people: basic skills, how many of the people referred who started on Skills Conditionality activities between August 2011 and August 2013 completed their course;
	(2)  what criteria his Department uses to evaluate mandatory skills conditionality interventions;
	(3)  what course content the Skills Conditionality interventions made between August 2011 and August 2013 consisted of.

Esther McVey: Between August 2011 and August 2013 there were nearly 240,000 starts to training by benefit claimants referred under the skills conditionality policy. DWP does not collect figures for the number of claimants who complete the training following a referral under this policy.
	The Skills Conditionality Pilot was evaluated in 2012 by a joint piece of research with the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, resulting in the Employment, Partnerships and Skills (DWP Research Report 830), published March 2013. This led to the national roll-out of the policy.
	Following an interview with a Jobcentre adviser Skills Conditionality interventions can include any or all of a referral to a meeting with a National Careers Adviser in England, referral to an initial interview with a training provider in England, referral to training in England and Scotland and referral to Skills for Work (Wales) in Wales. The content of all of these interventions will depend on the needs of the individual.

Work Capability Assessment

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the number of people who have had their welfare benefits halted as a result of review and appeal of their work capability assessment; and what emergency provisions are available to such individuals.

Michael Penning: Information on Incapacity Benefits Reassessments—Outcomes of Work Capability Assessments adjusted to account for the outcome of appeal can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/274091/esa_wca_140122.xls
	Individual level data on mandatory reconsiderations of ESA is not available; the Department is collecting process information, such as volumes and durations, to understand how the reforms are operating. It will, however, be some time until this information is available due to the time taken to go through the process from mandatory reconsideration to appeal outcome.
	Once a person has appealed against a work capability assessment decision that they are fit for work, employment and support allowance will be paid at the assessment phase rate up to the date of the appeal hearing.

Work Capability Assessment

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of employment and support allowance claimants who appealed against a work capability assessment decision in 2012-13 were (a) eligible for and (b) received Crisis Loan payments.

Michael Penning: The information is not readily available and has not previously been published as official statistics. We will consider whether it is feasible to produce the statistics requested within the disproportionate cost limit, and if so, will issue them in an official statistics release in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
	However, throughout the period in question, claimants who appealed against a work capability assessment decision were automatically awarded ESA at the basic rate, as long as they provided continuous medical evidence, until the outcome of their appeal. Where appropriate, the payment could be backdated to start from the day after the day on which the earlier award of ESA terminated, so there was no gap between the two awards.

Work Capability Assessment: Essex

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are currently awaiting a work capability assessment in (a) Chelmsford constituency and (b) Essex.

Michael Penning: There are 928 people currently awaiting a face to face Work Capability Assessment for the Chelmsford postcode area. This includes new claimants of employment and support allowance, who should be receiving the assessment rate of the benefit; existing recipients of employment and support allowance awaiting a review; and existing incapacity benefit recipients awaiting reassessment.
	The information is not readily available at constituency and county level.

TRANSPORT

Abellio Greater Anglia

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what plans he has to ensure (a) refurbishment or (b) replacement of the rolling stock on (i) commuter and (ii) intercity services on the Greater Anglia franchise in the (A) short Greater Anglia franchise to October 2016 and (B) long Greater Anglia franchise after October 2016;
	(2)  if he will take steps to ensure any rolling stock refurbishment programmes in the short Greater Anglia franchise provide significant upgrades for customers.

Stephen Hammond: We are in discussions with Abellio Greater Anglia about the Direct Award which will operate from July this year and we are seeking modest improvements to rolling stock where it provides value for money and is affordable. Negotiations are ongoing, however, we hope to improve the Mark III coaches used on the Norwich-London route and this may include the installation of power sockets and modifications to the toilets so that waste does not fall onto the tracks.
	The specification in the Invitation To Tender for the longer franchise, planned to be published in August 2015, will be informed by the output from the Norwich in Ninety Task Force. The Task Force will be engaging with all stakeholders later this year.

Abellio Greater Anglia

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to publish the invitation to tender document for the new long Greater Anglia franchise expected to commence in October 2016; and when he expects to award that new franchise.

Stephen Hammond: We expect to publish the invitation to tender document for the Greater Anglia franchise in August 2015 and to award this franchise in June 2016.

Abellio Greater Anglia

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what service improvements he plans to incorporate into the new short Greater Anglia franchise from July 2014 to October 2016.

Stephen Hammond: We are currently negotiating with Abellio Greater Anglia and hope to be able to provide service improvements where there is value for money in doing so.

Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of the office space owned or leased by his Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such unused office space; and if he will place in the Library a copy of his most recent departmental real estate valuation.

Stephen Hammond: As part of the Government's Transparency Agenda information about Department for Transport properties is published on the
	www.data.gov.uk
	website. Information on surplus properties owned and leased by the Department, as well as total property costs, is available via the following web link:
	http://data.gov.uk/dataset/epims
	Information on the valuation of land and property assets is available in the Department for Transport Annual Report and Accounts:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-transport-annual-report-and-accounts

East Anglia Railway Line

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will direct Network Rail to use National Journey Time Improvement Funding to ensure that infrastructure improvements to reduce journey times on the Great Eastern Main Line begin in Control Period 5 (2014-19).

Stephen Hammond: Funding for improving journey times may be available through the Passenger Journey Improvement Fund. This fund is available to the rail industry to improve passenger journey experiences. The use of this funding is managed by the rail industry, prioritised on the basis of a "best case" approach. We will also look to output from the Norwich in Ninety Task Force to consider other ways to improve journey times on this route.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2014, Official Report, column 319W, on motor vehicles: registration, what the changes in 2013 to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's vehicle registration processing system were; and what the purpose of those changes was.

Stephen Hammond: Following the closure of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) Local Offices the registration of previously foreign registered vehicles has been centralised at the DVLA headquarters in Swansea. As part of this process, the mechanism for recording information about imported vehicles has been simplified to increase efficiency.

Office for Low Emission Vehicles

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the likely level of underspend in respect of the Office of Low Emission Vehicles up to 2015.

Robert Goodwill: A provision of £400 million was made to support the early market for ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) between 2010-15. This figure was derived from manufacturers' forecast sales of ultra-low emission vehicles over the period, relying on early product launches and relatively fast consumer acceptance of new technologies. Sales of ULEVs have been increasing year on year, but at a slower rate than originally anticipated. We are currently projecting to spend c.£230 million over the period. Grant uptake in 2013 was 335% higher than in 2011, grants in January 2014 were at a record level and 679% higher than the equivalent month in 2013.

Parking: CCTV

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to his Department's Consultation on Local authority parking, published in December 2013, whether primary legislation would be needed to abolish the use of fixed or mobile closed circuit television cameras for parking enforcement.

Robert Goodwill: We will carefully consider the responses to the parking consultation (which ends on 14 February), and will make a statement on our proposed next steps in due course—including any proposed changes to the regulatory and legislative framework.

Pay

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Stephen Hammond: The following table provides the information requested on the number of civil servants in each pay grade in the Department and the agencies and public bodies:
	
		
			  AA AO EO HEO SEO G7 G6 SCS HEO/SEO1 Traffic officers1 Other1 Total 
			 DfT centre <5 171 221 422 271 443 191 116 0 0 0 1,837 
			 Agencies and public bodies 1,922 4,166 3,920 1,300 1,136 561 240 76 353 1,436 20 15,130 
			 1 To note that these staff do not fall within the general pay grades as they are agency specific roles. 
		
	
	Where numbers are five or less, we have withheld the precise number on grounds of confidentiality in line with the Data Protection Act.
	The Department and its agencies are:
	Department for Transport central (DfTc)
	Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
	Highways Agency (HA)
	Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA)
	Marine and Coastguard Agency (MCA)
	Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA)
	Driving Standards Agency (DSA)
	DfT Public Bodies are:
	BTPA-British Transport Police Authority
	DPTAC-Disabled Persons' Transport Advisory Committee
	PF-Passenger Focus
	HS2-High Speed 2 Ltd
	THLS-Trinity House Lighthouse Service
	TCs and DTCs-Traffic Commissioners and Deputies
	DOR Ltd-Directly Operated Railways Ltd
	LCR-London and Continental Railways
	ORR-Office of Rail Regulation
	NLB-Northern Lighthouse Board

Procurement

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's 10 largest contracts let since the financial year 2010-11 are; what savings have been made in such contracts; what the level of overspend or underspend was in each such contract; and what steps his Department has taken to monitor the performance of each supplier following the contract award.

Stephen Hammond: The Information requested is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Contract title Contract start date Actual contract price (£) Agency What savings have been made What level of overspend or underspend What steps are taken to monitor the performance of each supplier 
			 UK Search and Rescue Helicopter Service (SAR H) 26 March 2013 1,600,497,465 MCA Nil. UK SAR H is a contract for new capability, replacing a service previously delivered by MoD and MCA. Nil. Contractual service delivery does not start until April 2015. MCA Aviation Programme Office closely monitors the contractor's Programme Plan and reports progress through quarterly returns to DfT(C) and Cabinet Office. Ongoing programme of reviews and visits looks at performance of MCA Aviation team and Bristow Helicopters Ltd. 
			 Area 3 Asset Support Contract (ASC 3) 11 June 2013 700,000,000 HA The agency has documented extensively the savings that have been achieved across its business but in the time available it is not possible to provide a contract-by-contract summary given the multiple sources of savings that have been delivered. In the time available we have not been able to collate this information at contract level. The Highways Agency is proactive in measuring and managing supplier performance at contract level. The specifics of performance management differ across the contract portfolio but by using a common umbrella framework (the Motivating Success Toolkit—MST) the agency is able to ensure that there is a consistent focus on performance. The MST is weighted appropriately to reflect the needs of different types of contract—and is designed to assess the performance of the service provider against contract requirements and assess performance of providers across the strategic road network. In addition, it can also assess the effectiveness of the providers' quality management processes and be used to identify opportunities for continuous improvement. When performance failures are identified, corrective actions are agreed and progressed to completion. If the providers persistently fail to deliver on corrective actions they can have work taken away from them. If performance does not improve this can lead to termination of the contract. In addition, the HA undertakes audits of each supplier and has an invoice checking procedure in place. 
		
	
	
		
			 Area 9 Asset Support Contract (ASC 9) 31 December 2013 599,200,000 HA See above. See above. See above. 
			 Dartford Free-Flow Charging—Main Scheme (excluding civils) 26 September 2013 357,000,000 HA See above. See above. See above. 
			 Area 10 Asset Support Contract (ASC 10) 13 June 2012 230,209,078 HA See above. See above. Sec above. 
			 Area 2 Asset Support Contract (ASC 2) 27 February 2012 220,518,286 HA See above. See above. See above. 
			 Driving Theory Test and other computer based testing services March 2016 Estimated as £200-250 million over a 10-year period dependent upon demand for driving theory tests from the public. DVSA Estimated as £100 million over a 10-year period dependent upon demand for driving theory tests from the public. None—charges are matched by fees paid by test candidates. The contractor's performance is measured monthly through Key Performance Indicators and Service Standards. Performance points are allocated to each KPI or Service Standard for each percentage below target service level. Any performance points are paid by the contractor via a credit note. 
			 Area 8 Asset Support Contract (ASC 8) 10 October 2013 183,707,549 HA See above. See above. See above. 
			 Area 6 Asset Support Contract (ASC 6) 21 August 2013 128,830,324 HA See above. See above. See above. 
			 Provision of information and communications technology (ICT) services to the Highways Agency 1 May 2011 64,559,698 HA See above. See above. See above.

Property

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Stephen Hammond: As part of the Government's Transparency Agenda information about Department for Transport properties is published on the
	www.data.gov.uk
	website. Information on the properties owned and leased by the Department, as well as floor area and tenure status, is available via the following web link:
	http://data.gov.uk/dataset/epims
	Information on the valuation of land and property assets owned by the Department for Transport is available in the Annual Report and Accounts:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-transport-annual-report-and-accounts

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  which paid public appointment contracts he has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men;
	(2)  what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by his Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women.

Stephen Hammond: I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 607W, by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude).

Railways

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to bring forward the major upgrade of the Felixstowe to Nuneaton route including electrification into Control Period 5 for the purposes of supporting freight customers and passenger services in the East of England and on the Great Eastern Main Line.

Stephen Hammond: The programme of expenditure for the Rail Investment Strategy in Control Period 5 has now been agreed between the Department and Network Rail and is fully committed. A further £200 million specifically for the development of the Strategic rail Freight Network will be allocated according to the rail freight industry's priorities. A number of enhancements to the route between Felixstowe and Nuneaton, to enhance the network used by freight trains and reduce conflict between freight and passenger traffic, are expected to be funded through this allocation. The scope of those enhancements has yet to be confirmed but electrification of that route is not thought to be a priority for the rail freight sector.

Shipping: Employment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the contribution of long-term trends in (a) training and (b) employment in the shipping industry to the decline in the total number of UK seafarers between 2012 and 2013.

Stephen Hammond: The Department for Transport produces and publishes National Statistics on the number of UK certificated seafarers and ratings currently estimated to be active at sea and on the number of sea cadets in training. Data on the number of ratings in training are not held.
	During the period 2006 to 2013, the total number of cadets in training has increased, as can be seen in Table 1.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of cadets in training, 2006-13 
			  Number 
			 2006 1,110 
			 2007 1,430 
			 2008 1,700 
			 2009 1,800 
			 2010 1,830 
			 2011 1,840 
			 2012 1,900 
			 2013 1,990 
			 Source: UK seafarer statistics, 2013 
		
	
	The Department for Transport monitors the data on an annual basis (or when updates are available). The Support for Maritime Training programme (SMarT) budget was increased by 25% to £15 million in September 2013 to ensure the availability of a qualified workforce. Government also has a number of other policies in place to address the decline including Maritime apprenticeships and the tonnage tax regime with its mandatory training link. The Support for Maritime Training programme (SMarT) budget provided by Government extends to the provision of training for ratings.

Shipping: Employment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the contribution of long-term trends in (a) training and (b) employment in the shipping industry to the decline in the total number of UK ratings between 2012 and 2013.

Stephen Hammond: The Department for Transport produces and publishes national statistics on the number of UK ratings currently estimated to be active at sea. Data on the number of ratings in training is not held.
	The Department for Transport does not hold the appropriate data regarding the available ratings work force and those in training to assess any long terms trends or relationships.
	The Support for Maritime Training programme (SMarT) budget provided by Government extends to the provision of training for ratings.

Shipping: Employment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the contribution of long-term trends in (a) training and (b) employment in the shipping industry to the decline in the total number of UK certificated officers between 2006 and 2013.

Stephen Hammond: The Department for Transport produces and publishes National Statistics on the number of UK certificated seafarers currently estimated to be active at sea and on the number of sea cadets in training.
	During the period 2006-13, the total number of cadets in training has increased, as shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of cadets in training, 2006-13 
			  Number 
			 2006 1,110 
			 2007 1,430 
			 2008 1,700 
			 2009 1,800 
			 2010 1,830 
			 2011 1,840 
			 2012 1,900 
			 2013 1,990 
			 Source: UK seafarer statistics, 2013. 
		
	
	The Department for Transport monitors the data on an annual basis (or when updates are available). The Support for Maritime Training programme (SMarT) budget was increased by 25% to £15 million in September 2013 to ensure the availability of a qualified work force. Government also has a number of other policies in place to address the decline including Maritime apprenticeships and the tonnage tax regime with its mandatory training link. The Support for Maritime Training programme (SMarT) budget provided by Government extends to the provision of training for ratings.

Shipping: Employment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of employment trends in the shipping industry.

Stephen Hammond: National statistics on employment in the shipping sector are published by the Office for National Statistics. Data is collected as part of the business register and employment survey.
	The Department for Transport collects and produces a national statistics publication on seafarers which provides estimates for the number of UK seafarers active at sea, including demographic analysis.
	Data from these two Government sources, alongside industry estimates are monitored on an annual basis (or when updates are available). The Department for Transport monitors the data on an annual basis (or when updates are available). The Support for Maritime Training programme (SMarT) budget was increased by 25% to £15 million in September 2013 to ensure the availability of a qualified work force. Government also has a number of other policies in place to address the decline including Maritime apprenticeships and the tonnage tax regime with its mandatory training link. The Support for Maritime Training programme (SMarT) budget provided by Government extends to the provision of training for ratings.

Staff

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of staff of (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.

Stephen Hammond: The following table contains the information relating to the proportion of staff in the Department and agencies and public bodies that work outside of London:
	
		
			  Proportion (percentage) Outside London Total 
			 DfT centre 13 239 1,837 
			 Total agencies/public bodies 95 14,897 15,674 
		
	
	The Department for Transport and agencies and its public bodies do not hold the information relating to staff location by local authorities centrally, and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Department and its agencies are:
	Department for Transport central (DfTc)
	Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
	Highways Agency (HA)
	Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA)
	Marine and Coastguard Agency (MCA)
	Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA)
	Driving Standards Agency (DSA)
	DfT Public Bodies are:
	BTPA-British Transport Police Authority
	DPTAC-Disabled Persons' Transport Advisory Committee
	PF-Passenger Focus
	HS2-High Speed 2 Ltd
	THLS-Trinity House Lighthouse Service
	TCs and DTCs-Traffic Commissioners and Deputies
	DOR Ltd-Directly Operated Railways Ltd
	LCR-London and Continental Railways
	ORR-Office of Rail Regulation
	NLB-Northern Lighthouse Board

CABINET OFFICE

Average Earnings: Houghton-le-Spring

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what change there has been in median gross weekly pay for (a) men and (b) women in Houghton and Sunderland South constituency in each year since 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Joe Grice
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what change there has been in median gross weekly pay for (a) men and (b) women in Houghton and Sunderland South constituency, in each year since 2010. (186264)
	The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. Weekly levels of earnings are estimated from ASHE, and are provided for employees on adult rates of pay, whose earnings for the survey pay period were not affected by absence. Figures relate to employee jobs, which are defined as those held by employees and not the self-employed.
	The following table shows estimates of median gross weekly earnings, and the corresponding annual percentage changes, for male and female employees in Houghton and Sunderland South constituency from 2010 to 2013, the latest period for which results are available.
	
		
			 Median gross weekly earnings for employees1 in Houghton and Sunderland South constituency, 2010 to 2013 
			  Male employees (£) Previous year (%) Female employees (£) Previous year (%) 
			 2010 **433.1 — *304.7 — 
			 20112,4 **378.7 -12.6 **324.6 6.5 
			 20113,4 **380.2 — **329.6 — 
			 2012 **376.1 -1.1 *291.3 -11.6 
			 2013 *430.4 14.4 *315.0 8.1 
			 1 Employee jobs are defined as those held by employees and not the self-employed. Figures relate to employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence. ASHE is based on a 1% sample of jobs taken from HM Revenue and Customs' Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records. Consequently, individuals with more than one job may appear in the sample more than once. 2 2011 results based on Standard Occupational Classification 2000. 3 2011 results based on Standard Occupational Classification 2010. 4 Estimates for years prior to 2011 are based on SOC 2000 and estimates for years after 2011 are based on SOC 2010. Figures are only considered to be directly comparable if they are based on the same SOC. Guide to quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220. Key: * CV >5% and < =10% ** CV >10% and <=20% Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Office for National Statistics.

Charities: Pay

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps his Department is taking to stop excessive salary payments to executives of charities.

Nick Hurd: It is important that charities are transparent about their remuneration. Charity accounting rules require disclosure of charity employees in each £10,000 income band over £60,000. Specific concerns of disproportionate executive pay in a charity in England or Wales should be referred to the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

Charities: Political Impartiality

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to ensure that charities do not use Government aid for political purposes.

Nick Hurd: The terms and conditions of funding awarded by the Cabinet Office, in common with other Government Departments, precludes funding from being used for political purposes.

Civil Servants: Maternity Pay

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what average level of maternity pay is paid to civil servants.

Francis Maude: Maternity pay for civil servants is the responsibility of each individual Department.

Equality

Dominic Raab: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the (a) total departmental expenditure, (b) number and (c) cost of people employed for the purpose of promoting equality and diversity was for each of the last five years.

Francis Maude: Responsibility for equality and diversity policy lies with the head of HR policy.
	There is no central record of expenditure on equality and diversity.

Orders and Regulations

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many regulations made since May 2010 contain a sunset clause.

Michael Fallon: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
	The information required to answer the hon. Member's question is currently being compiled. I will write with a full answer shortly, and place a copy of the response in the Library of the House.

Pay

Ian Austin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him;
	(2)  what proportion of staff of (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.

Francis Maude: As part of the Government's Transparency Agenda, all Government Departments, their agencies and public bodies now publish monthly statistics on their work force. For the Cabinet Office, this is published on the Cabinet Office website at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/payroll-costs-and-non-consolidated-pay-data-2013-2014
	and on data.gov.uk at
	http://data.gov.uk/dataset/workforce-management-information-cabinet-office
	Information on the local authorities that cover the locations where staff work in my Department and its agencies and public bodies is not held centrally.
	At 31 December 2013: 5% of staff in my Department work outside of London in the following locations:
	Basingstoke
	Bristol
	Easingwold, North Yorkshire
	Leeds
	Mansfield
	Newcastle-upon-Tyne
	Norwich
	Sheffield
	York
	91% of staff in Cabinet Office agencies and public bodies Government Procurement Service and Big Lottery Fund work outside of London in the following locations:
	Belfast
	Birmingham
	Cambridge
	Cardiff
	Exeter
	Glasgow
	Guildford
	Leeds
	Liverpool
	Manchester
	Newcastle-upon-Tyne
	Norwich
	Nottingham
	Newport
	Newtown, Powys

Proof of Identity

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office for access to which public services photo ID is required.

Nick Hurd: The Cabinet Office does not hold this information.

Property

Ian Austin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him;
	(2)  which central government office estate buildings are currently (a) unoccupied and (b) under-occupied;
	(3)  what progress has been made on relocating civil servants from expensive city centre locations since the publication of the Government's Estate Strategy in June 2013.

Francis Maude: Before the last general election too much of the Government's property estate was under-used and under-occupied. Since 2010 this Government has been working to rationalise its estate and dispose of unnecessary properties. We have got out of hundreds of properties and now publish more details than ever before on how Departments are using their buildings. The Government has exited over 1.8 million square metres between May 2010 and December 2013, reducing the size of its mandated estate by around 17%. Our work to rationalise the Government's property estate resulted in the disposal of 401 buildings in 2012-13, saving the taxpayer £620 million last year alone.
	Information relating to Cabinet Office properties is available on line via
	http://data.gov.uk/dataset/epims
	Information about property valuations for the Cabinet Office's Land and Buildings, which have been audited by the National Audit Office, are contained in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2012-2013, available at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2012-to-2013
	On 1 January 2014 2.5% (220,240 square metres) of our central Government mandated estate was vacant compared to a private and public sector average of 10.1%.

Unemployment: North East

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent assessment he has made of levels of unemployment amongst university graduates in the North East.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated February 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what recent assessment he has made of levels of unemployment amongst university graduates in the North East. (187707)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles graduate unemployment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
	The latest APS estimates available for graduate unemployment are from interviews held during the period January to December 2012. Based on this survey, the number to the nearest thousand, of unemployed people whose highest qualification was degree level or higher in the North East was 13,000 and 4.7% of the economically active graduate population.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the reasons for the differences in registration rates between (a) the black and Asian communities and (b) the white community.

Greg Clark: The Government has funded qualitative research which examined why some of the traditionally under-registered groups are less likely to register. This can be found here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/62636/URG_Research_Report_25_07_12.pdf
	The Government has also funded Electoral Commission research into the difference in attitudes to voting and registration between the UK general population and its black and minority ethnic population. This can be found here:
	http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/154474/Winter-tracker-2012-Topline-findings-BME-boost.pdf

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2014, Official Report, columns 386-87W on electoral register, 
	(1)  how his Department encourages local authorities to use their own council tax records to find eligible electors;
	(2)  how many local authorities inspect their own council tax records to find eligible electors.

Greg Clark: Regulation 35 of each of the English and Welsh, and Scottish, Representation of the People Regulations 2001, enables Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to inspect records which are held by their local authority to improve the completeness and accuracy of the register.
	The Electoral Commission provides guidance for EROs on how to use other records, such as council tax records, to identify people who may be eligible to be registered. The Commission monitors the performance of EROs in using these information sources through its performance standards framework.
	As part of the transition to Individual Electoral Registration, Government will also encourage local authorities to make use of local data to support the maintenance of a complete and accurate register by enabling local data to be used to automatically confirm existing electors who cannot be matched against the Department for Work and Pensions records.
	Information on the amount of local authorities inspecting their own council tax records is not held centrally. In 2012 all EROs in Great Britain met performance standard 1: 'Using information sources to verify entries on the register of electors and identify potential new electors'. In March 2014, the Commission will make a final assessment of performance for 2013, and will report on its conclusions.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2014, Official Report, columns 181-2W, on electoral register, if he will make it his policy to collect data intended to improve efficiency in registration of electors.

Greg Clark: The Electoral Commission is responsible for the collection and evaluation of data about the cost of electoral registration, as well as data on the performance of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). The Government is already working with the Commission and EROs, and electoral administrators, to ensure that costs and efficiencies, including the potential impact of online registration, can be understood in the context of the transition to IER.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 5 December 2013, Official Report, columns 803-4W, on electoral register, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the reduction in the number of attainers registered to vote between 2009 and 2012; what steps he has taken to address that reduction; and how successful they have been.

Greg Clark: Figures from the Office for National Statistics indicate that falling attainer numbers between 2009 and 2012 are likely to have been at least partly caused by decreases in the population of the relevant age group.
	To improve registration levels for young people, the Government has made the Rock Enrol! learning resource available, which promotes democratic engagement and encourages young people to register to vote.
	The Government also manages a student forum that brings together the Higher/Further Education sector, the National Union of Students and local authorities with the highest student populations. The forum shares best practice to support the maximum registration of students.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2014, Official Report, column 386W, on electoral register, on what dates the student forums established by his Department for the purpose of promoting registration have met in each region; and what the main collective outcomes of these meetings were.

Greg Clark: The student forum was established on 18 July 2013, and following this, the Government has facilitated meetings across Great Britain. In all areas a meeting has either taken place, or is being scheduled.
	The aim of these regional meetings is to discuss the practical steps that universities and their local Electoral Registration Officers can take to encourage students to register to vote, including publicising how to register, and improving the better use of data at a local level.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2014, Official Report, column 386W, on electoral register, if he will place a copy of the best practice to increase voter registration turnout in the Library.

Greg Clark: The Government, with contributions from the National Union of Students and the Academic Registrars Council, is producing a guide to student voter registration. When this is released a copy will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2014, Official Report, column 387W, on electoral register, if he will relay this information to hon. Members and local councillors on a regular basis.

Greg Clark: This information is not held centrally.

Electoral Register: Fraud

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will commission research on the effect of (a) media coverage of electoral registration fraud, (b) politicians’ comments on electoral registration fraud and (c) the Electoral Commission’s coverage of electoral registration fraud on the public’s perception of electoral fraud.

Greg Clark: Since 2008, the Electoral Commission and the Association of Chief Police Officers have produced an annual report into the issue of alleged electoral fraud. The Electoral Commission has also recently completed a review of electoral fraud in the UK, for which it commissioned research on public perceptions of electoral fraud. They published their final report on 8 January 2014. The Government is carefully considering the report and its three main recommendations and will respond in the coming months.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by his Office since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women;
	(2)  which paid public appointment contracts his Office has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men.

Nicholas Clegg: The Deputy Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 607W.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

China

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to take steps to ensure that UK aircraft comply with China's air defence zone.

Hugo Swire: We support the EU statement made by Baroness Ashton on 28 November expressing concern over the increase in regional tensions that have resulted from China's Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). No UK airlines schedule flights that cross the Chinese ADIZ, and we have taken no actions to ensure compliance with it.

Colombia

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure the implementation of his Department's commitment to work with Colombia on the design of a business and human rights strategy; and how his Department is designing this strategy in consultation with a wide variety of civil society organisations.

Hugo Swire: Last year, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office funded a project to assist Colombia in drafting its national policy and our British embassy continues to ensure that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community groups participate actively in this process. The Colombian public policy on business and human rights has been formed as a result of the consultation process on all human rights issues in Colombia, undertaken in 33 regions and involving over 19,000 people. Our project has also carried out six workshops with civil society in regions most affected by business and human rights issues in Colombia.
	A large business and human rights event in Cartagena on 14 May 2013, which was part-funded by our embassy in Bogota, confirmed that Colombia wants to continue working closely with the UK on its business and human rights policy.

Commonwealth

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to develop the UK's trading relationship with other Commonwealth countries.

Hugo Swire: The UK is committed to strengthening trade across the Commonwealth. UK Trade and Investment is helping strengthen trade links with markets across the world that are key to the UK's future prosperity and is now represented in 22 Commonwealth countries. These include high growth markets such as India, Singapore, South Africa and Malaysia and others such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where we already have significant and well established trading relations. We are also working hard to ensure the EU signs ambitious Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Commonwealth countries to improve the access of UK companies to these markets. The EU has a Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement with South Africa, while negotiations on FTAs with Canada and Singapore reached a political conclusion last year. The EU/Canada Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement will benefit the UK economy and businesses by over £1.3 billion a year. EU negotiations are also ongoing with India and Malaysia.
	Ahead of this year's Commonwealth games in Glasgow, UKTI, the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and the Commonwealth Business Council are working together to deliver a business conference for 200 Commonwealth business leaders. UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) are also organising a British Business House, which will showcase UK plc to Commonwealth businesses.
	As the Minister of State for the Commonwealth, I spoke at the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) in Colombo, which took place ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, to highlight the Commonwealth's potential for increased trade and investment. UKTI sent a representative to the CBF to support British businesses.
	We welcome the appointment of Lord Marland of Odstock as Chair of the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC). We expect his appointment will help the CBC work towards increased trade and investment across the Commonwealth.

Equal Pay

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will investigate the reasons for the gender pay gap at senior management structures 2, 3 and 4 of his Department.

Hugh Robertson: The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidelines state that difference greater than 5% should be investigated and that patterns of difference of 3% or more should be looked into. We recently conducted an equal pay analysis which shows the pay gap by gender for staff at Senior Management Structure (SMS) levels 2 and 3/4 as:
	
		
			 Grade Female (£) Male (£) Average Pay Gap (percentage) 
			 SMS2 88,471 89,669 -1.35 
			 SMS3/4 118,470 131,360 -10.88 
		
	
	The pay gap between men and women at Senior Management Structure 3/4 is attributable to the relatively small number of women holding SMS3 posts and no women currently holding either of the two SMS4 posts.

Libya

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance his Department is providing in the process of installing democratic systems in Libya.

Hugh Robertson: The UK remains firmly committed to supporting Libyan efforts to build a secure, prosperous and democratic country. In partnership with the UN Support Mission in Libya, and other international partners, we are providing a comprehensive package of support over the next three years to assist the Libyan Government in establishing accountable and human rights compliant security, justice and defence institutions. This includes training 2,000 Libyan armed forces personnel to support the Libyan Government's efforts to increase the effectiveness and capacity of its security and justice sector institutions. The establishment of such structures in Libya is essential to the democratic transition and will contribute to regional stability and security.
	The UK has 19 long-term military and civilian advisers, in addition to a number of short-term experts, working with the Libyan authorities across the fields of security, justice and defence. This includes building civil service capacity; strengthening civilian oversight of their armed forces; disposal of arms and ammunition; improving access to justice; and helping to build the professionalism and capacity of the police force. All of these advisers are paid for by the British Government from the tri-departmental conflict prevention pool.

Linda Carty

Stephen Metcalfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to his US counterpart on Linda Carty; and if he will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: The British Government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and we will make representations on behalf of British nationals facing death sentences, according to the individual circumstances of each case.
	The decision on Ms Carty's case is a matter for the Texan authorities. I raised Ms Carty's case with Governor Rick Perry of Texas during his visit to the UK last October. Her Majesty's Consul General Houston had two meetings with Governor Perry's General Counsel in 2013 to raise our concerns about Ms Carty's case.
	We will continue to raise Ms Carty's case, and the UK's wider opposition to the death penalty, with the Texan authorities and the US Federal Government.

North Korea

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the government of North Korea on the treatment of Christians in that country.

Hugo Swire: Officials regularly raise our concerns about human rights violations in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), including with regard to the treatment of Christians. In January 2014 our ambassador in Pyongyang raised human rights with a Vice-Minister from the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials raised it with the DPRK ambassador in London.
	Supporting human rights remains one of the priorities for our policy towards the DPRK. We aim to do this in three ways: by ensuring the issue remains high on the international community's agenda; by using our policy of critical engagement to raise our concerns directly with the DPRK authorities; and by supporting small scale projects aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable groups in the DPRK.
	The annual FCO Human rights report includes the DPRK as a country of concern. The full report can be found at:
	www.hrdreport.fco.gov.uk

Pay

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Hugh Robertson: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) at 31 January 2014 employed 4,715 UK based staff at the following paybands.
	
		
			 Pay grade Number 
			 Al (AA) 20 
			 A2 (AO) 696 
			 B3 (EO) 766 
			 C4 (HEO) 1,178 
			 C5 (SEO) 457 
			 D6 (Grade 7) 772 
			 D7 (Grade 6) 420 
			 SMS1 (SCSI) 277 
			 SMS2 (SCS2) 100 
			 SMS3 (SCS3) 26 
			 SMS4 (SCS4) 2 
			 PUS (SCS4) 1 
		
	
	FCO Services employed 947 UK based staff at the following paybands.
	
		
			 Pay grade Number 
			 Al (AA) 34 
			 A2 (AO) 90 
			 Apprentice 21 
			 B3 (EO) 90 
			 Technical Payband 3 (EO) 100 
			 C4 (HEO) 132 
			 Technical Payband 4 (HEO) 151 
			 C5 (SEO) 67 
			 Technical Payband 5 (SEO) 120 
			 D6 (Grade 7) 96 
			 D7 (Grade 6) 37 
			 SMS1 (SCSI) 9 
			 SMS2 (SCS2) 1

Property

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

David Lidington: The details requested for the United Kingdom Estate held by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) are as follows:
	
		
			 Name Location Floor space (m2) Tenure status Holder 
			 Hanslope Park Milton Keynes 25,932 Freehold FCO 
			 King Charles Street (Main Building) London 28,751 Freehold FCO 
			 Old Admiralty Building London 15,279 Freehold FCO 
			 1 -7 Kensington Palace Gardens London 10,120 Leasehold FCO 
			 13 Kensington Palace Gardens London 4,710 Leasehold FCO 
			 Northgate House Milton Keynes 3,277 Leasehold FCO 
			 1 Carlton Gardens London 2,483 Leasehold FCO 
			 Lancaster House London 3,668 Leasehold FCO 
			 Artillery House London 186 Leasehold Westminster Foundation for Democracy 
			 Belgrave Square London 61 Leasehold Great Britain -China Centre 
			 Wiston House Steyning 2,326 Leasehold Wilton Park Conference Centre 
			 Spring Gardens London 5,316 Leasehold British Council 
			 Bridgewater House Manchester 1,988 Leasehold British Council 
			 Kingsway Cardiff 462 Leasehold British Council 
			 Waverly Gate Edinburgh 456 Leasehold British Council 
			 The Boat Belfast 245 Leasehold British Council 
			 Telford Way London 1,100 Leasehold British Council 
		
	
	We have not provided individual valuations for each of these properties as this information is commercially sensitive.
	Overseas, the FCO runs an estate comprising more than 5,000 properties in 250 locations worldwide, and the British Council have over 220 commercial properties in 110 countries. It would not be possible to provide the information requested on these properties without incurring disproportionate cost.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which paid public appointment contracts he has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men.

Hugh Robertson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 607W, by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude).

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by his Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women.

Hugh Robertson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 607W.

Re-employment

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2014, Official Report, column 196W, on re-employment, what the total cost was of those retirements.

Hugh Robertson: Of the 14 retirements, six of these retired on age grounds at no cost to the Department.
	The remaining eight retirements were at a total cost to the FCO of £647,840.06
	Individual payments are calculated in accordance with the civil service pension scheme rules in place at the time of retirement and are based on salary, years of service and age.

Religious Freedom

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when Ministers in his Department last met representatives of the All Party Parliamentary Group in International Religious Freedom.

David Lidington: My noble Friend, the right hon. Baroness Warsi last met representatives of the All Party Parliamentary Group on International Religious Freedom on 22 October 2013.

Sri Lanka

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of reports of discriminatory practices towards the Tamil people in Sri Lanka relating to (a) political rights, (b) education and (c) appropriation of land.

Hugo Swire: We continue to monitor closely civil and political rights as well as land issues in Sri Lanka. We welcomed the Northern Provincial Council elections in Sri Lanka, which took place in September 2013. This was the first provincial council election held in the predominantly Tamil north since the 1987 establishment of provincial councils. The opposition, Tamil National Alliance, won over 80% of the vote. Local election observers noted that elections were
	“relatively free from violence, though not from intimidation”.
	We have expressed concerns at military involvement in civilian activities in the north and are aware of reports that the military are involved in education.
	The Prime Minister raised land rights and militarisation in the north of Sri Lanka during his November meeting with the Sri Lankan President Rajapaska. He called for a meaningful political settlement with the north, including demilitarisation and full implementation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations.
	We continue to underline to the Sri Lankan authorities the need for a long-term political settlement to address these underlying grievances and will continue to monitor these issues.

Sri Lanka

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking in Sri Lanka to create lasting peace and reconciliation.

Hugo Swire: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I have given to question 186379 on 6 February 2013, Official Report, column 358W.

Staff

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of staff of (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.

Hugh Robertson: Working outside London, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have staff in the following local authority areas: London borough of Croydon (less than 1%) and Milton Keynes (9%).
	FCO Services have staff in Milton Keynes (68%).
	Wilton Park has staff in Horsham district council (100%).
	British Council have staff in Belfast city council (0.35%), Cardiff city council (0.37%), City of Edinburgh council (0.56%) and Manchester city council (2.99%).
	Westminster Foundation for Democracy have no staff working outside London.
	Great Britain-China Centre have no staff working outside London.
	Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission do not employ staff.

Tanzania

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise the failure of the Tanzanian Government to take action in relation to the seizure of Silverdale farm by Mr Benjamin Mengi in his upcoming meeting with the President of Tanzania.

Mark Simmonds: The British Government has raised the case of Silverdale farm at the highest levels on a number of occasions. I raised the issue with the Tanzanian Agricultural Minister on 24 October last year and have done so with the Tanzanian Foreign Minister on numerous occasions. We will continue to discuss the investment climate in our conversations with the Tanzanian Government.

Ukraine

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Ukranian counterpart aimed at bringing to an end the recent restrictions on human rights following protests in that country.

David Lidington: On 10 February, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), joined other EU Foreign Ministers in endorsing EU Council Conclusions which expressed deep concern at the continuing political crisis in Ukraine and the human rights situation, including violence, cases of missing persons, torture and intimidation. The EU deplored the deaths and injuries sustained on all sides. They urged restraint and called for the authorities to take all necessary measures to respect and protect the Ukrainian citizens' fundamental rights and to investigate duly all acts of violence in a transparent and impartial manner and bring the perpetrators to justice.
	On 24 January the Foreign Secretary spoke to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Leonid Kozhara, to express the British Government's deep concern at the violence in Ukraine. He said that all sides had a responsibility to refrain from violence, but particular responsibility rested with the government. He also outlined his concern about legislation passed on 16 January that appeared to impinge on democratic norms. I was pleased to see that on 28 January the Ukrainian parliament voted to repeal those laws. The UK Government will continue to call on Ukraine to adhere to its obligations as a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and Council of Europe.

JUSTICE

Blue Bay Support Services

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what contracts his Department has with Blue Bay Support Services; when each contract was signed; and what the value and purpose is of each such contract.

Jeremy Wright: In 2013 the Ministry of Justice had two contracts with Blue Bay Support Services Limited. One was let on 18 October 2013 to the value of £40,000.00; and the other was let on 13 November 2013 to the value of £9,600.00. These contracts provided short term support to four prisons in offender management and they came to an end in December 2013.
	Blue Bay Support Services Limited provide professionally trained and qualified staff in the criminal justice field. Similar service providers have been used on occasions over a number of years (including under a different Government) to provide short term support to probation trusts and prisons.
	Probation trusts are non-departmental public bodies and information on individual trust contracts is not held centrally.

Blue Bay Support Services

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what payments his Department has made to Blue Bay Support Services Ltd in each of the last three years; and what services that company provides to (a) his Department and (b) the National Offender Management Service.

Jeremy Wright: Blue Bay Support Services Ltd have received the following payments from the Ministry of Justice to provide short term support to four prisons in offender management:
	(i) 2011-12—No payments
	(ii) 2012-13—No payments.
	(iii) 2013-14—11 payments totalling £24,360 for work which was brought to a conclusion in December 2013.
	Blue Bay Support Services Limited provides professionally trained and qualified staff in the criminal justice field. Similar service providers have been used on occasions over a number of years (including under a different Government) to provide short term support to probation trusts and prisons.
	Probation trusts are non-departmental public bodies and information on individual trust contracts is not held centrally.

Conditions of Employment

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to balance the legal rights and responsibilities of employees and employers; and if he will make a statement.

Shailesh Vara: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) aims to make working within the Department a positive experience, with employees and employer upholding their rights and responsibilities.
	Our standards and procedures are built upon what is expected through Legislation, Terms and Conditions of Employment, the Civil Service Code which sets out the value and standards expected of all civil servants, and other rules governing areas including confidentiality, propriety and ethics.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills leads on the regulation of the employer and employee relationship.

Domestic Violence: Sentencing

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will list the outcomes of sentences for convictions of domestic violence offences in 2009 by local criminal justice boards.

Jeremy Wright: Domestic violence covers a very wide range of behaviour and there are many offences in England and Wales that could be relevant to cases of domestic abuse or domestic violence. These include, but are not limited to, offences against the person (such as common assault, actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm—which are both capable of including psychiatric injury—or wounding), sexual offences, threats to kill, blackmail, false imprisonment, harassment, stalking, putting someone in fear of violence and breach of non-molestation orders.
	Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on the court proceedings database does not include the circumstances behind each case beyond the description provided in the statute. It is not possible to separately identify from this centrally held information convictions and sentences for domestic violence from other offences of assault. Information is not collated centrally on victims of alleged offences proceeded against, aside from the information provided by the statute under which proceedings are brought. This detailed information may be held on the court record, but due to the size and complexity, is not reported centrally to the MOJ. As such, the information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Driving Offences: Sentencing

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the Sentencing Council keeps under review the offence of causing death by disqualified or uninsured drivers.

Jeremy Wright: Guidance to the judiciary is produced independently of Government, by the Sentencing Council. This is in line with the principle that, while the Government decides what maximum penalties should be, the courts are responsible for deciding what sentence to impose within those limits.
	The sentencing guideline on causing death by driving was published by the Sentencing Guidelines Council in 2008. It covers the offences of causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving as well as causing death by dangerous driving while under the influence of drink or drugs and causing death by driving unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured. Last year, the Justice Secretary wrote to the Sentencing Council (as it now is) to ask them to review the death by driving guideline and they have agreed to include this in their programme of work.
	Severe maximum penalties, of 14 years imprisonment, are available for those who cause death through dangerous driving or under the influence of drink or drugs and statistics show that the overwhelming majority of those convicted for these offences receive lengthy custodial sentences. The maximum penalty for causing death by disqualified or uninsured driving is two years’ imprisonment. We are keeping the law in this area under review. If any changes are needed, we will bring forward proposals.

Driving: Licensing

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many notifications of endorsement from a court or fixed penalty office of a driver who meets the criteria of the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995 were sent to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency following the accumulation of six penalty points by a new driver within the two year probationary period in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many notifications were sent by a court or fixed penalty office to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency following the accumulation of six penalty points by a new driver within the two year probationary period in each of the last five years.

Shailesh Vara: The data is not held by HM Courts and Tribunals Service as although HM Courts and Tribunals Service is obliged to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency where the court endorses a licence the notification mechanism is the same for all drivers. The notification to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not therefore expressly state that a driver is, or is not, within their probationary period.

Drugs: Sentencing

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have received the (a) maximum fine and (b) maximum prison sentence for (i) possession and (ii) trafficking of (A) Class A drugs (B) Class B drugs and (C) Class C drugs in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: There are tough penalties available for drug offences, with the maximum penalties set by Parliament to deal with the worst possible cases. Trafficking Class A drugs carries a maximum prison sentence of life imprisonment and seven years minimum sentence on a third conviction. Within those limits it is for the courts to determine sentences in individual cases taking into account all the circumstances of the offence and the offender.
	The number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for offences relating to possession and trafficking of Class A, Class B and Class C drugs, including those sentenced to the maximum penalty, at magistrates courts, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012, can be viewed in Table 1.
	The number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for offences relating to possession and trafficking of Class A, Class B and Class C drugs, including those sentenced to the maximum penalty, at the Crown court, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012, can be viewed in Table 2.
	The number of offenders sentenced to a fine for offences relating to possession and trafficking of Class A, Class B and Class C drugs, including those sentenced to the maximum penalty available within magistrates' powers (or above), at magistrates courts, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012, can be viewed in Table 3. The custody rate remains constant (at 98%-99%) for the number of offenders sentenced in the Crown court for the most serious and high volume offence of importing Class A drugs. Drug traffickers are almost always given long custodial sentences if found guilty in the Crown court of the most serious offences.
	The Crown court has unlimited powers to fine, therefore there is no maximum fine in the higher court. However, the number of offenders sentenced to a fine for offences relating to possession and trafficking of Class A, Class B and Class C drugs, at the Crown court, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012, can be viewed in Table 4. Those convicted of drug offences may also be subject to confiscation proceedings.
	The tables will be placed in the Library of the House.

Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate his Department has made of the average waiting time for employment and support allowance appeals.

Shailesh Vara: The First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service, hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions' decisions on a range of benefits, including employment and support allowance (ESA).
	In the period 1 April to 30 September 2013 (the latest period for which data has been published) the average waiting time from receipt of an ESA appeal at the tribunal to disposal was 18.9 weeks. The average waiting time has fallen since 2010.

Employment Tribunals Service

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2013, Official Report, column 324W, on employment tribunal services, if he will publish the analysis sought in that question.

Shailesh Vara: Data concerning outcomes of fee remission applications made, in employment tribunal cases and in other court and tribunal jurisdictions, are not routinely published.
	HM Courts and Tribunals Service is working with partners to develop appropriate system reporting tools that will enable extraction, interrogation and subsequent quality assurance of data, including the data requested. Until those system reporting tools are developed, later this year, we will not be able to provide the data requested.
	The Government has previously said that it plans to publish a Post Implementation Review, assessing and reporting on the impacts of fee-charging on the employment tribunals system. The reporting tools we are developing will help us to undertake that work.
	As in my previous answer, my officials are currently undertaking this work, and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as I am able.

Fines: Surcharges

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much of the victim surcharge has gone uncollected since the surcharge was introduced.

Shailesh Vara: The value of uncollected victim surcharge as at 31 March 2013 is £12.1 million. This amount is net of administrative cancellations.
	HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) takes the issue of financial penalty enforcement very seriously and is working to ensure that clamping down on defaulters is a continued priority nationwide. HMCTS actively pursues all outstanding impositions until certain they cannot be collected. Collection reached an all time high at the end of 2012-13 and has continued to rise in this financial year. At the end of September 2013 total collection (all imposition types excluding confiscation orders) was higher than the same point in the previous year and the outstanding balance had reduced since the start of the financial year. On average over the last 12 month 69% of accounts have been either closed or are compliant with payment terms by 12 months after imposition.
	HMCTS are actively seeking an external provider for the future delivery of compliance and enforcement services. This will bring the necessary investment and innovation to significantly improve the collection of criminal financial penalties and reduce the cost of the service to the taxpayer.
	Under this Government, more money is being used to fund victims’ services than ever before. Despite a law being introduced in 1996, which allowed money to be deducted from prisoner’s earnings to help fund support for victims, the previous Government failed to act on this, depriving victims of potentially millions of pounds of support.

Fines: Surcharges

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much of the victim surcharge has been (a) collected and (b) uncollected in each year since 2010.

Shailesh Vara: Information for the financial year 2011-12, including receipts received up to 18 months after the imposition date, and financial year 2012-13 to date, is provided in the table.
	HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) takes the issue of financial penalty enforcement very seriously and is working to ensure that clamping down on defaulters is a continued priority nationwide. HMCTS actively pursues all outstanding impositions until certain they cannot be collected. Collection reached an all time high at the end of 2012-13 and has continued to rise in this financial year. At the end of September 2013 total collection (all imposition types excluding confiscation orders) was higher than the same point in the previous year and the outstanding balance had reduced since the start of the financial year. On average over the last 12 month 69% of accounts have been either closed or are compliant with payment terms by 12 months after imposition.
	HMCTS are actively seeking an external provider for the future delivery of compliance and enforcement services. This will bring the necessary investment and innovation to significantly improve the collection of criminal financial penalties and reduce the cost of the service to the taxpayer.
	Under this Government, more money is being used to fund victims’ services than ever before. Despite a law being introduced in 1996, which allowed money to be deducted from prisoner’s earnings to help fund support for victims, the previous Government failed to act on this, depriving victims of potentially millions of pounds of support.
	Due to limitations in accounting systems, information is not available for earlier years without disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 £000 
			  2011-12 2012-13 
			 Imposed 12,293 15,715 
			 Cancelled 1,440 1,606 
			 Collected 8,887 10,319 
			 Uncollected 1,966 3,791 
		
	
	Cancellations relate mainly to remissions and statutory declarations.

Ministers

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on ministerial salaries in the last year for which figures are available.

Shailesh Vara: Salaries paid to Ministers in the MOJ for the financial year 2012-13 are set out in the following table. In respect of Ministers in the House of Commons, Departments bear only the cost of the additional ministerial remuneration, the salary for their services as an MP (£65,738 from 1 April 2010) and various allowances to which they are entitled are borne centrally. Ministers in the House of Lords do not receive a salary but rather an additional remuneration which cannot be quantified separately from their ministerial salaries.
	
		
			  Salary 2012-13 
			 Ministers Paid (£) Full year equivalent (£) 
			 The Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (from 5 September 2012) 39,576 68,827 
			    
			 The Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (to 4 September 2012) 29,251 68,827 
			    
			 The Rt Hon Lord McNally*, Minister of State and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords 115,257 - 
			    
			 Jeremy Wright MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (from 5 September 2012) 13,560 23,697 
			    
			 Helen Grant MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (from 5 September 2012) 13,560 23,697 
			    
			 Crispin Blunt MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (to 4 September 2012) 10,137 23,697 
			    
			 Jonathan Djanogly MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (to 4 September 2012) 10,137 23,697 
			 * Lord McNally receives the Lords Office Holder Allowance (LOHA) which is set at £36,366 per annum. It is available to paid Lords Ministers whose main home is outside of London and is included within the figure disclosed above.

Offenders: Risk Assessment

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offender assessments using the Offender Assessment System were outstanding on the first day of every month since May 2010.

Jeremy Wright: Information is not held centrally to allow a comparison of the number of applicable offenders in prison with those for whom a risk assessment on the Offender Assessment System (OASys) has been outstanding on the first day of every month since May 2010. Such information could be provided only at very significant and disproportionate cost.
	Given the importance of the OASys tool in assessing and managing risk, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is putting in place processes to monitor and manage outstanding OASys assessments on an ongoing basis. Such processes were absent up to May 2010.

Pay

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of (a) permanent, (b) temporary and (c) contract staff in his Department are paid the Living Wage or above.

Shailesh Vara: Information on the numbers of directly employed (a) permanent and, (b) fixed-term temporary staff being paid the Living Wage* or above within the Ministry of Justice HQ, HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), National Offender Management Service (NOMS), Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			 As at 30 November 2013 Number paid the Living Wage or above On strength headcount Proportion of staff employed paid the Living Wage or above (percentage) 
			 MOJ (Includes HQ, HMCTS, OPG and LAA) 25,189 25,361 99.3 
			 NOMS 38,643 38,880 99.4 
			 Combined MOJ and NOMS total 63,832 64,241 99.4 
		
	
	Living wage rates were increased in November 2013 after the implementation of the 2013 pay award. As a result 0.6% of MOJ and NOMS staff are paid marginally below the increased rates. The department is committed to ensuring that all staff are paid in line with or above the living wage and will assess this position again in 2014 as part of any pay round decisions.
	Information on contractors paid less than the rate defined by the ‘Living Wage Foundation’ as a living wage is not recorded centrally. We would need to approach all of our contractors and or their agencies to get them to provide the information. This could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	* Living Wage data cannot be split between Permanent and Temporary as per the ONS definition and so the proportion overall is all that can be provided.
	(a) ONS Definition-Permanent employees are those that have a contract with no agreed expiry date or a fixed term contract of more than 12 months (regardless of the amount of time remaining on the contract).
	(b) ONS Definition-Temporary/casual employees are those that have a fixed term contract of 12 months or less or are employed on a casual basis.

Pay

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many employees of his Department or any of its agencies received bonus payments in each year between 2010 and 2013;
	(2)  how much was paid in bonuses to employees of his Department and its agencies in each year between 2010 and 2013.

Shailesh Vara: Details of the number of employees within the Department and its agencies receiving performance related payments together with the overall cost for each of the financial years since 2010-11 can be found in the following table.
	Details provided relate to staff employed within the Ministry of Justice HQ (MOJ), HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG).
	The total amount paid in non-consolidated performance awards to staff has fallen from £7.89 million in the final year of the previous administration.
	
		
			 Performance year Total cost of in-year/end-year non-consolidated performance-related payments (bonuses) for each performance year (£) Number of officials awarded a non-consolidated performance related payment (bonus) in each performance year 
			 2010-11 6,201,581 13,918 
			 2011-12 5,311,421 11,057 
			 2012-13 5,117,836 10,407

Probation

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he has taken to ensure that there will be sufficient experienced probation officers allocated to the 21 community rehabilitation companies to assess risk escalation of offenders who are supervised by those companies.

Jeremy Wright: The 30 bidders who passed the first stage of the competition to win the regional rehabilitation contracts were announced in mid December and all have experience in working with offenders or across the wider Criminal Justice System. Providers bidding to run Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) will need to demonstrate in their bids how they will deliver high quality services and how they will maintain a workforce with appropriate levels of competence and training to deliver these services. CRCs will be free to use the Probation Qualifications Framework (PQF) to ensure this. Existing probation staff have been assigned to posts in the new structures according to their experience and case load.

Probation

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  if he will publish the three probation level input indicators due to be published in autumn 2012;
	(2)  what the average full apportioned cost to probation of delivering a community order or suspended sentence order to the service definition in the National Offender Management Service specification was for the last period for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: The three probation unit cost input indicators, including the fully apportioned cost to NOMS of delivering a community order or suspended sentence order, are published on an annual basis by the Ministry of Justice. These were first published on 25 October 2012 in respect of 2011-12. Costs for 2012-13, the latest available, were published on 31 October 2013.
	These are published as part of the prison and probation trusts performance statistics through the following page of the Gov.uk website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics

Procurement

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many officials at each grade in his Department have the authority to execute a purchase; what proportion of those officials have professional procurement qualifications; and what the key indicators used in his Department to assess procurement officer's performance are.

Shailesh Vara: Authority to execute a purchase is delegated to heads of business units across the Department and subject to strict controls and budgetary limits. Unit heads are then able to sub delegate to individuals within business units, again subject to strict controls. Details of numbers of individuals and grades with delegated authority to purchase are not held centrally. To determine the exact number would incur disproportionate cost as an approach to over 1,000 individual business units would be required.
	Authority to execute contracts for goods services and works is restricted to personnel within the Department’s procurement directorate and Legal Aid Agency for contracts pertaining to legal aid. In the procurement directorate, 142 officials have delegated authority to execute contracts of which 71 have the graduate diploma from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply with a further 50 in the process of completing the diploma. A breakdown by grade is shown as follows.
	
		
			 Grade Number of officials with delegated authority Number of officials with a full or part professional procurement qualification 
			 SCS 13 3 
			 Band A 37 32 
			 Band B 57 65 
			 Band C 2 2 
			 Band D 28 18 
			 Band E 5 1 
			 Total 142 121 
		
	
	In the case of Band B officials more are qualified than have delegated authority.
	Performance is assessed annually based on commercial objectives derived from the Civil Service Competency Framework.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  which paid public appointment contracts he has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men;
	(2)  what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by his Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women.

Shailesh Vara: I refer the hon. Lady to the answer provided by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 607W.

Railways: Trespass

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions have been secured for trespassing on the railway in each of the last 10 years.

Jeremy Wright: Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on the Court Proceedings Database does not include the circumstances behind each case beyond the description provided in the statute. Offences relating to trespassing on the railway system are reported as part of a miscellaneous group of offences, and it is not possible, therefore, to separately identify prosecutions for these specific offences from other offences.

Rape: Victim Support Schemes

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans his Department has to expand the number of rape support centres across the country.

Damian Green: In response to the Ministry of Justice's consultation and response paper “Getting it right for victims and witnesses” which outlined the Government's intention on the future commissioning of victim's services, the MOJ launched the Rape Support Fund (2011 to 2014). The Rape Support Fund has provided around £4.4 million per year, which currently supports 77 rape support centres, including 13 new and emerging centres in areas of need.
	The current Rape Support Fund will end on 31 March 2014 and to ensure there is no gap in service provision, a new two-year £4.1 million Rape Support Fund (with the option to extend for a further year) will commence from April 2014, the commissioning process for which has already concluded with announcements due later in February.
	The Ministry of Justice is also working with experts from the sector and are due to engage Police and Crime Commissioners, to establish potential locations for two new centres during 2014 and £300,000 has been set aside to establish these new centres.

Witnesses

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) active and (b) inactive registered intermediaries there were in each year since 2010.

Damian Green: Registered Intermediaries help to make the justice process accessible to some of the most vulnerable people in our society. In some cases they will be the difference between a witness being able to testify or not.
	The use of registered intermediaries has increased in recent years (from 1,206 requests in 2010 to 1,796 in 2013). Numbers of active and inactive registered intermediaries vary on a daily basis because of other demands on their time, and they fluctuate over time due to natural wastage and the 2012 review of long-term inactive intermediaries which removed a large number from the register. Statistics at 31 December of each respective year indicate:
	2010—Separate figures were not available until 31 March 2011. At this date, there were 112 active and 36 inactive, total 148;
	2011—active 102, inactive 42, total 144 ;
	2012—active 88, inactive 19, total 107; and
	2013—active 74, inactive 20, total 94.
	During the winter of 2013, the Ministry of Justice ran a recruitment campaign for new registered intermediaries. From this, 30 candidates were selected for initial accreditation training courses scheduled during January, February and March 2014.

Witnesses

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) matched and (b) unmatched registered intermediaries there were for each age group of vulnerable witnesses in each year since 2010.

Damian Green: Registered intermediaries help to make the justice process accessible to some of the most vulnerable people in our society. In some cases they will be the difference between a witness being able to testify or not. The data in the following table provides the requested information.
	
		
			  0 to 4 5 to 11 12 - 17 18+ 65+ 
			 2010      
			 Matched 85 174 226 627 49 
			 Unmatched 0 2 2 2 2 
			 Cancelled 1 3 6 24 3 
			 Total 86 179 234 653 54 
			       
			 2011      
			 Matched 84 150 226 652 56 
			 Unmatched 0 1 5 16 6 
			 Cancelled 5 4 6 14 5 
			 Total 89 155 237 682 67 
			       
			 2012      
			 Matched 124 262 237 683 75 
			 Unmatched 0 0 2 13 5 
			 Cancelled 4 2 4 19 2 
			 Total 128 264 243 715 82 
			       
			 2013      
			 Matched 208 364 308 778 62 
			 Unmatched 2 3 5 25 2 
			 Cancelled 3 7 7 20 2 
			 Total 213 374 320 823 66

Witnesses

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many sexual offences were prosecuted which involved a person aged under 18 years old where that person was (a) matched and (b) unmatched with a registered intermediary since 2010.

Damian Green: Registered intermediaries help to make the justice process accessible to some of the most vulnerable people in our society. In some cases they will be the difference between a witness being able to testify or not.
	Data is not collated for reporting purposes on whether the request for a registered intermediary by a user group is for an initial assessment, an achieving best evidence interview, for a trial or any other purpose. However, the data in the following table provides information on requests for cases involving sexual offences and involving all other types of offences.
	
		
			 2010 
			   Non-sexual offences Sexual offences 
			   0-17 18+ 0-17 18+ 
			 Police Matched 100 211 286 310 
			  Unmatched 1 1 1 2 
			  Cancelled 3 14 4 7 
			 CPS Matched 22 61 61 63 
			  Unmatched 1 1 1 0 
		
	
	
		
			  Cancelled 1 5 1 0 
			 Courts Matched 1 1 1 1 
			  Unmatched 0 0 0 0 
			  Cancelled 0 0 0 1 
			 Solicitor Matched 11 17 3 12 
			  Unmatched 0 0 0 0 
			  Cancelled 1 0 0 0 
			 Total  141 311 358 396 
			 Grand total  1,206 
		
	
	
		
			 2011 
			   Non-sexual offences Sexual offences 
			   0-17 18+ 0-17 18+ 
			 Police Matched 94 217 277 298 
			  Unmatched 1 4 2 2 
			  Cancelled 4 8 8 5 
			 CPS Matched 24 78 55 77 
			  Unmatched 1 4 0 4 
			  Cancelled 0 3 2 0 
			 Courts Matched 0 3 1 2 
			  Unmatched 0 0 0 0 
			  Cancelled 0 0 0 1 
			 Solicitor Matched 2 19 7 14 
			  Unmatched 0 6 2 2 
			  Cancelled 1 1 0 1 
			 Total  127 343 354 406 
			 Grand total  1,230 
		
	
	
		
			 2012 
			   Non-sexual offences Sexual offences 
			   0-17 18+ 0-17 18+ 
			 Police Matched 163 254 355 323 
			  Unmatched 0 7 0 4 
			  Cancelled 4 10 4 3 
			 CPS Matched 34 107 70 72 
			  Unmatched 0 4 2 2 
			  Cancelled 1 5 1 2 
			 Courts Matched 0 1 0 0 
			  Unmatched 0 1 0 0 
			  Cancelled 0 1 0 0 
			 Solicitor Matched 1 1 0 0 
			  Unmatched 0 0 0 0 
			  Cancelled 0 0 0 0 
			 Total  203 391 432 406 
			 Grand total  1,432 
		
	
	
		
			 2013 
			   Non-sexual offences Sexual offences 
			   0-17 18+ 0-17 18+ 
			 Police Matched 155 211 512 383 
			  Unmatched 3 12 5 4 
			  Cancelled 6 5 7 5 
			 CPS Matched 39 107 174 136 
			  Unmatched 1 6 1 4 
		
	
	
		
			  Cancelled 4 8 0 4 
			 Courts Matched 0 0 0 0 
			  Unmatched 0 0 0 0 
			  Cancelled 0 0 0 0 
			 Solicitor Matched 0 2 0 1 
			  Unmatched 0 1 0 0 
			  Cancelled 0 0 0 0 
			 Total  208 352 699 537 
			 Grand total  1,796

Written Questions: Government Responses

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2013, Official Report, column 61W, on procurement, when the information sought by the original question will be provided.

Jeremy Wright: The answer to the question tabled by the right hon. Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan) will be answered as soon as possible.

Young Offenders

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking to equip young offenders with the skills, qualifications and self-discipline they need to lead law-abiding lives in the community.

Jeremy Wright: We have recently set out our plans to transform youth custody and put education at the heart of youth detention. All young people should have access to a high quality education which will allow them to fulfil their potential. This is all the more important if a young person has set out on the wrong path in life, and needs help to get back onto the straight and narrow.
	We will be introducing a pathfinder Secure College, a new form of secure educational establishment for young offenders, in the East Midlands in 2017. Secure Colleges will deliver an innovative and integrated regime focused on educating and rehabilitating young offenders, m addition, we are enhancing education provision within Young Offender Institutions by seeking to more than double the number of hours young people spend in education each week, and by bringing the head teacher overseeing education delivery into the senior management team of the establishment.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment her Department has made of a link between the consumption of highly alcoholic beverages and anti-social and criminal behaviour; and if she will make a statement.

Norman Baker: While no formal assessment has been made, we know that there are certain high strength products that are overly associated with alcohol harms. Evidence from Suffolk Police stated there had been a 49% reduction in anti-social “incidents of concern” in Ipswich during the first six months of the Reducing the Strength campaign, where retailers voluntarily stopped selling high-strength alcohol. That is why we are challenging industry to raise its game to help tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder including taking action to reduce the size and strength of products associated with problem drinking.

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will bring forward legislative proposals to enable minimum pricing for alcohol.

Norman Baker: Minimum Unit Pricing remains a policy under consideration but is not being taken forward at the moment, while we assess the response of industry to our Alcohol Strategy. In the meantime we are introducing a ban on alcohol sales below the cost of duty plus VAT from April 2014. This fulfils the Coalition Government's commitment and will stop the worst cases of very cheap and harmful alcohol sales.

Confiscation Orders

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many confiscation orders have been recorded by each force on (a) the Joint-Asset Recovery Database and (b) other databases for (i) below £100, (ii) between £100 and £50,000 and (iii) above £50,000 in each year for which figures are available.

Karen Bradley: holding answer 10 February 2014
	Under this Government more assets have been recovered from criminals than ever before. The figures of confiscation orders obtained by police forces in England and Wales from the Joint Asset Recovery Database are provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Number of confiscation orders 
			 Police forces  2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			  Below £100 4 1 9 3 4 11 21 8 14 14 
			  Between £100-£50,000 1 23 75 69 90 115 108 140 167 165 
			  Above £50,000 16 8 4 4 5 11 3 10 12 6 
			 Avon and Somerset Constabulary Total 21 32 88 76 99 137 132 158 193 185 
			  Below £100 1 0 0 5 7 11 9 21 7 11 
			  Between £100-£50,000 9 12 15 28 48 55 46 75 82 58 
			  Above £50,000 2 1 2 1 4 2 4 4 10 7 
			 Bedfordshire police Total 12 13 17 34 59 68 59 100 99 76 
			  Below £100 0 0 0 0 2 4 2 9 3 15 
			  Between £100-£50,000 2 5 5 8 11 24 10 18 19 16 
			  Above £50,000 2 1 1 2 0 3 2 2 5 4 
			 British Transport Police Total 4 6 6 10 13 31 14 29 27 35 
			  Below £100 8 0 1 1 2 5 4 19 49 30 
			  Between £100-£50,000 28 15 12 41 58 64 59 66 51 90 
			  Above £50,000 2 8 1 6 6 4 0 4 4 7 
			 Cambridgeshire Constabulary Total 38 23 14 48 66 73 63 89 104 127 
			  Below £100 0 0 4 3 15 28 13 18 10 19 
			  Between £100-£50,000 9 15 26 23 27 69 60 75 84 88 
			  Above £50,000 1 1 1 6 4 7 6 3 6 8 
			 Cheshire Constabulary Total 10 16 31 32 46 104 79 96 100 115 
			  Below £100 0 2 1 5 6 8 1 4 7 9 
			  Between £100-£50,000 9 16 11 12 18 10 18 17 13 25 
		
	
	
		
			  Above £50,000 3 4 4 4 7 5 1 13 8 9 
			 City of London Police Total 12 22 16 21 31 23 20 34 28 43 
			  Below £100 0 1 11 4 4 0 17 20 7 32 
			  Between £100-£50,000 0 15 41 26 21 30 49 77 54 51 
			  Above £50,000 0 0 2 3 3 2 9 4 0 8 
			 Cleveland police Total 0 16 54 33 28 32 75 101 61 91 
			  Below £100 0 2 1 6 6 13 12 15 20 14 
			  Between £100-£50,000 17 12 15 26 58 63 53 52 61 61 
			  Above £50,000 1 0 0 2 2 8 2 1 6 4 
			 Cumbria Constabulary Total 18 14 16 34 66 84 67 68 87 79 
			  Below £100 3 21 22 21 37 30 23 32 21 19 
			  Between £100-£50,000 13 62 57 75 65 85 71 81 43 37 
			  Above £50,000 2 4 1 3 7 3 2 6 1 8 
			 Derbyshire Constabulary Total 18 87 80 99 109 118 96 119 65 64 
			  Below £100 1 1 0 0 6 2 8 11 4 11 
			  Between £100-£50,000 14 14 22 20 35 31 24 35 43 43 
			  Above £50,000 1 2 2 2 6 6 9 11 4 4 
			 Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Total 16 17 24 22 47 39 41 57 51 58 
			  Below £100 0 2 3 4 6 6 11 17 10 6 
			  Between £100-£50,000 10 26 32 18 21 51 46 41 35 28 
			  Above £50,000 1 1 2 9 7 2 5 2 5 6 
			 Dorset police Total 11 29 37 31 34 59 62 60 50 40 
			  Below £100 0 2 1 1 2 1 6 2 3 7 
			  Between £100-£50,000 6 10 20 25 31 30 37 63 28 25 
			  Above £50,000 1 1 2 1 6 2 4 0 1 1 
			 Durham Constabulary Total 7 13 23 27 39 33 47 65 32 33 
			  Below £100 1 2 6 16 21 13 11 15 20 18 
			  Between £100-£50,000 7 13 19 16 31 29 26 28 34 40 
			  Above £50,000 1 2 0 1 2 0 2 1 2 0 
			 Dyfed-Powys police Total 9 17 25 33 54 42 39 44 56 58 
			  Below £100 0 2 5 4 3 26 38 43 26 20 
			  Between £100-£50,000 8 15 39 35 36 54 76 106 94 76 
			  Above £50,000 3 1 4 4 1 6 7 5 11 9 
			 Essex police Total 11 18 48 43 40 86 121 154 131 105 
			  Below £100 0 8 7 6 9 17 6 15 5 13 
			  Between £100-£50,000 6 11 24 33 57 73 39 36 29 36 
		
	
	
		
			  Above £50,000 3 4 4 0 9 3 5 2 1 2 
			 Gloucestershire Constabulary Total 9 23 35 39 75 93 50 53 35 51 
			  Below £100 26 126 93 99 158 124 78 49 28 45 
			  Between £100-£50,000 136 252 213 209 260 241 224 259 243 226 
			  Above £50,000 10 9 17 12 14 21 18 10 15 14 
			 Greater Manchester police Total 172 387 323 320 432 386 320 318 286 285 
			  Below £100 2 19 9 7 11 15 8 9 5 7 
			  Between £100-£50,000 20 27 18 26 29 31 33 31 38 49 
			  Above £50,000 0 3 2 4 3 2 4 3 1 1 
			 Gwent police Total 22 49 29 37 43 48 45 43 44 57 
			  Below £100 0 2 6 14 12 17 13 37 65 56 
			  Between £100-£50,000 22 30 38 44 34 26 19 46 118 113 
			  Above £50,000 3 1 4 2 10 8 4 13 3 2 
			 Hampshire Constabulary Total 25 33 48 60 56 51 36 96 186 171 
			  Below £100 0 1 0 10 13 30 32 31 32 29 
			  Between £100-£50,000 1 6 17 29 31 63 63 69 61 57 
			  Above £50,000 1 2 5 3 11 8 7 7 8 6 
			 Hertfordshire Constabulary Total 2 9 22 42 55 101 102 107 101 92 
			  Below £100 2 3 4 3 5 9 10 8 3 5 
			  Between £100-£50,000 17 24 30 42 33 37 63 64 50 42 
			  Above £50,000 1 2 1 5 1 11 6 8 7 6 
			 Humberside police Total 20 29 35 50 39 57 79 80 60 53 
			  Below £100 7 8 26 14 44 50 59 55 52 35 
			  Between £100-£50,000 29 19 42 44 66 66 98 100 87 89 
			  Above £50,000 8 6 4 15 6 6 15 7 15 8 
			 Kent police Total 44 33 72 73 116 122 172 162 154 132 
			  Below £100 0 0 3 4 15 12 7 24 16 11 
			  Between £100-£50,000 13 22 32 48 46 45 59 95 87 91 
			  Above £50,000 0 5 8 6 10 13 10 6 10 11 
			 Lancashire Constabulary Total 13 27 43 58 71 70 76 125 113 113 
			  Below £100 4 6 9 21 18 26 33 35 44 43 
			  Between £100-£50,000 18 56 70 73 100 74 114 109 133 148 
			  Above £50,000 5 5 6 3 18 9 10 17 9 2 
			 Leicestershire Constabulary Total 27 67 85 97 136 109 157 161 186 193 
			  Below £100 1 4 6 15 15 26 27 11 19 22 
			  Between £100-£50,000 12 23 35 46 32 49 44 73 52 39 
		
	
	
		
			  Above £50,000 1 1 8 1 0 3 4 1 3 1 
			 Lincolnshire police Total 14 28 49 62 47 78 75 85 74 62 
			  Below £100 7 15 50 45 51 57 50 56 49 71 
			  Between £100-£50,000 41 70 119 108 89 137 143 123 157 156 
			  Above £50,000 12 7 8 11 8 18 12 4 8 8 
			 Merseyside police Total 60 92 177 164 148 212 205 183 214 235 
			  Below £100 11 24 41 33 65 91 69 43 56 44 
			  Between £100-£50,000 113 169 251 227 260 311 286 337 315 265 
			  Above £50,000 40 34 53 52 77 69 60 86 81 89 
			 Metropolitan Police Service Total 164 227 345 312 402 471 415 466 452 398 
			  Below £100 0 3 1 2 2 3 1 3 8 15 
			  Between £100-£50,000 7 7 16 23 48 58 77 85 84 69 
			  Above £50,000 0 3 8 2 9 4 5 4 6 1 
			 Norfolk Constabulary Total 7 13 25 27 59 65 83 92 98 85 
			  Below £100 0 0 0 2 9 22 19 15 19 12 
			  Between £100-£50,000 7 4 4 14 38 52 66 52 65 46 
			  Above £50,000 0 0 4 1 3 2 4 4 2 4 
			 North Wales police Total 7 4 8 17 50 76 89 71 86 62 
			  Below £100 0 1 4 6 15 16 12 15 9 10 
			  Between £100-£50,000 0 16 23 25 28 41 46 40 30 36 
			  Above £50,000 0 1 3 1 3 3 1 5 2 4 
			 North Yorkshire police Total 0 18 30 32 46 60 59 60 41 50 
			  Below £100 2 3 1 7 2 17 29 28 14 11 
			  Between £100-£50,000 12 14 32 26 28 34 33 36 42 38 
			  Above £50,000 4 2 3 3 8 3 3 7 2 6 
			 Northamptonshire police Total 18 19 36 36 38 54 65 71 58 55 
			  Below £100 0 0 1 1 11 5 22 36 12 27 
			  Between £100-£50,000 2 17 26 34 43 69 84 110 79 66 
			  Above £50,000 1 3 3 3 6 1 8 8 5 6 
			 Northumbria police Total 3 20 30 38 60 75 114 154 96 99 
			  Below £100 3 5 10 14 17 46 58 58 51 37 
			  Between £100-£50,000 14 41 71 64 78 105 94 139 129 135 
			  Above £50,000 4 4 2 8 5 8 2 8 5 3 
			 Nottinghamshire police Total 21 50 83 86 100 159 154 205 185 175 
			  Below £100 11 40 51 51 46 48 30 34 26 21 
		
	
	
		
			  Between £100-£50,000 26 57 97 108 98 147 131 152 125 134 
			  Above £50,000 0 0 2 3 2 7 5 3 2 4 
			 South Wales police Total 37 97 150 162 146 202 166 189 153 159 
			  Below £100 1 7 7 4 3 12 17 18 14 17 
			  Between £100-£50,000 17 53 52 57 48 61 75 86 121 114 
			  Above £50,000 4 7 7 6 9 13 10 4 17 9 
			 South Yorkshire police Total 22 67 66 67 60 86 102 108 152 140 
			  Below £100 0 1 1 3 13 15 12 31 37 41 
			  Between £100-£50,000 13 13 18 38 56 74 81 99 112 101 
			  Above £50,000 0 1 5 4 10 11 4 10 5 10 
			 Staffordshire police Total 13 15 24 45 79 100 97 140 154 152 
			  Below £100 2 4 0 7 6 12 16 21 8 11 
			  Between £100-£50,000 4 28 46 55 74 78 65 54 65 64 
			  Above £50,000 2 2 3 2 4 5 1 6 2 4 
			 Suffolk Constabulary Total 8 34 49 64 84 95 82 81 75 79 
			  Below £100 0 1 1 6 5 3 7 23 10 17 
			  Between £100-£50,000 4 13 16 19 13 23 24 31 30 30 
			  Above £50,000 3 6 3 6 5 6 10 5 5 7 
			 Surrey police Total 7 20 20 31 23 32 41 59 45 54 
			  Below £100 3 2 13 15 15 24 23 29 20 27 
			  Between £100-£50,000 26 28 37 66 74 103 138 126 122 98 
			  Above £50,000 3 3 3 3 5 7 10 15 8 6 
			 Sussex police Total 32 33 53 84 94 134 171 170 150 131 
			  Below £100 1 3 6 23 25 78 70 88 39 35 
			  Between £100-£50,000 21 33 84 95 105 133 113 138 138 100 
			  Above £50,000 4 2 6 6 11 15 10 6 18 16 
			 Thames Valley police Total 26 38 96 124 141 226 193 232 195 151 
			  Below £100 0 1 0 9 8 9 7 16 9 17 
			  Between £100-£50,000 6 5 8 12 22 26 17 27 25 43 
			  Above £50,000 0 0 0 0 3 1 3 2 2 3 
			 Warwickshire police Total 6 6 8 21 33 36 27 45 36 63 
			  Below £100 5 12 14 4 15 15 18 15 37 21 
			  Between £100-£50,000 32 36 38 26 55 63 58 70 76 47 
			  Above £50,000 5 4 3 0 4 7 4 5 5 6 
			 West Mercia Constabulary Total 42 52 55 30 74 85 80 90 118 74 
			  Below £100 0 17 27 67 65 60 75 53 57 36 
		
	
	
		
			  Between £100-£50,000 34 81 94 125 125 117 114 103 93 119 
			  Above £50,000 3 3 6 15 8 20 17 14 14 18 
			 West Midlands police Total 37 101 127 207 198 197 206 170 164 173 
			  Below £100 0 4 8 9 16 23 27 44 78 98 
			  Between £100-£50,000 12 34 144 224 202 163 199 263 289 330 
			  Above £50,000 13 4 13 8 8 19 12 26 37 35 
			 West Yorkshire police Total 25 42 165 241 226 205 238 333 404 463 
			  Below £100 0 0 3 6 4 17 7 5 3 5 
			  Between £100-£50,000 9 15 19 20 35 39 30 31 27 34 
			  Above £50,000 0 2 2 1 3 2 6 1 4 1 
			 Wiltshire Constabulary Total 9 17 24 27 42 58 43 37 34 40

Drugs: Misuse

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what position the UK Government will be taking on drugs policy at the G8 Summit hosted by Russia on 4 and 5 June 2014; and if she will make a statement.

Norman Baker: The UK Government is committed to working with the international community, including through the G8, to address the significant harms drugs cause to individuals, families and communities.
	During G8 meetings, including the G8 Summit, we will discuss how the international community can work together to ensure the global approach to drugs is as effective as it can be. We will continue to advocate a balanced and evidence-based international response that combines effective enforcement to restrict the supply of drugs with efforts to reduce demand and build recovery. There are encouraging signs in the UK, with drug use at its lowest level since records began in 1996, and people going into treatment today more likely to free themselves from dependency than ever before, but I am also keen, through our international comparators study, to learn from the experience of other countries.
	We will also seek to build on the consensus for increased global action on new psychoactive substances agreed as part of the UK's presidency of the G8 in 2013.

Human Trafficking

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what discussions she has had with her counterpart in the Republic of Ireland on the prevention of human trafficking between jurisdictions;
	(2)  what discussions she has had with her Swedish counterpart on steps that the Swedish government has taken to tackle human trafficking.

Karen Bradley: Home Office Ministers have regular meetings with a wide variety of international partners and others as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Immigration

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date officials in her Department were first made aware that the hon. Member for Forest of Dean had concerns over the immigration status of his cleaner.

James Brokenshire: Wednesday 5 February.

Independent Police Complaints Commission

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how the Independent Police Complaints Commission defines restraint-related deaths involving police officers that occur outside the physical premises of a police station;
	(2)  what the Independent Police Complaints Commission definition of a death in custody is for statistical purposes.

Damian Green: holding answer 6 February 2014
	The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is responsible for publishing annual figures on deaths during or following police contact. The IPCC publishes guidance which includes the definition of death categories.
	These documents are available on the IPCC website. The definitions taken from the guidance are set out here:
	Restraint-related deaths:
	Part of the process of collating information for deaths included in the annual report includes noting whether the individual was restrained at any point during the interaction with the police.
	This is detailed in the published reports where appropriate for the categories ‘Deaths in or following police custody’ and ‘Other deaths following police contact (which have been subject to IPCC independent investigation)’. Details on cause of death, as recorded in the medical post mortem are also presented in the report. A death will only be classed as ‘restraint-related’ if the medical post mortem came to such conclusion.
	Death in or following police custody:
	Deaths in or following police custody includes deaths that occur while a person is being arrested or taken into detention. It includes deaths of persons who have been arrested or have been detained by police under the Mental Health Act 1983. The death may have taken place on police, private or medical premises, in a public place or in a police or other vehicle.
	This includes:
	Deaths that occur during or following police custody where injuries that contributed to the death were sustained during the period of detention.
	Deaths that occur in or on the way to hospital (or other medical premises) following or during transfer from scene of arrest or police custody.
	Deaths that occur as a result of injuries or other medical problems that are identified or that develop while a person is in custody.
	Deaths that occur while a person is in police custody having been detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 or other related legislation.
	This does not include:
	Suicides that occur after a person has been released from police custody.
	Deaths of individuals who have been transferred to the care of another agency and subsequently die while in their care of injuries or illness not identified or sustained while in police custody.
	Deaths that occur where the police are called to assist medical staff to restrain individuals who are not under arrest.

Marriage: Fraud

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many marriages were reported as sham for each year since 2006; and how many such marriages were (a) investigated, (b) found to be sham and (c) found to be genuine.

James Brokenshire: Section 24 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 places a duty on registrars to notify the Home Office if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that a marriage is one of convenience. Submission of a section 24 report does not indicate that an offence has been committed; rather it reflects the suspicions of the registrar. The following table shows, the number of section 24 reports received in each of years requested.
	
		
			  Number of section 24/24A reports of suspicious marriages and civil partnerships1 
			 2006 282 
			 2007 384 
			 2008 344 
			 2009 561 
			 2010 934 
			 2011 1,741 
			 2012 1,891 
			 2013 (to 31 October) 1,824 
			 1 Included from 2005 
		
	
	In addition, since 30 September 2012 when it was introduced, we have recorded the following numbers of other reports relating to sham marriage on our Intelligence Management System (previously known as the Allegations Management System).
	
		
			  Number of reports relating to sham marriage recorded on IMS 
			 2012 (30 September to 31 December) 984 
			 2013 (to 31 October) 5,782 
		
	
	As with figures like these, there could be a number of reasons for the increase including real-life increase, increase in reporting, or better detection. The Government is determined to clamp down on abuse of the marriage route. Data on individual cases and whether they are genuine or sham are only held with paper case files or within the notes sections of the Home Office's databases. Such information is not aggregated in national reporting systems, which would mean these questions could only be answered through a disproportionately expensive manual case search to collate the data.
	The following table provides the information we hold centrally on investigations and outcomes relating to sham marriage. These figures do not give the complete picture of sham marriage activity, as many investigations will not result in an enforcement visit. In terms of outcomes, the fact that there has been an arrest or a. removal does not necessarily indicate a marriage was a sham.
	
		
			 Marriage abuse enforcement activity and criminal investigations, January 2006 to October 2013 
			 Calendar year Enforcement visits Arrests resulting from these ops Charged Successful prosecutions Individuals linked to sham marriage activity Removals and departures where person linked to sham marriage activity 
			 2006 15 * - - - - 
			 2007 25 5 - - - - 
			 2008 30 5 - - - - 
			 2009 40 40 - - - - 
			 2010 240 165 - - - - 
			 2011 685 365 - - - - 
			 2012 735 310 110 45 - - 
		
	
	
		
			 2013 YTD* 1,155 615 95 60 1,645 90 
			 Notes: 1. The figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. Figures for enforcement visits and arrests relate to those linked to marriage abuse undertaken between 1 January 2006 and 31 October 2013 recorded on the National Operations Database (NODMMX). 3. Figures for those charged and prosecuted relate to criminal investigation operations between 1 January 2012 and 31 October 2013 recorded on the National Operations Database (NODMMX). 4. Successful prosecutions range from cautions to custodial sentences. 5. Figures on individuals linked to sham marriage activities relate to those flagged on the Case Information Database between 14 January and 31 October 2013. Prior to 14 January this data was not tracked on CID. 6. Figures on removals relate to individuals flagged as linked to marriage abuse investigations on the Case Information Database (CID) with a removal date between 14 January and 31 October 2013. 7. Figures for arrests, charged, successful prosecutions, sham marriage activity links and removals relate to individuals. 8. Figures rounded to nearest 5 (- = 0, * = 1 or 2).

Offences Against Children

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many former care staff and teachers who worked in approved schools or community homes with education in the 1970s and 1980s in (a) England and Wales and (b) North Wales have been arrested for offences of (i) physical assault and (ii) sexual offences against former residents of the institutions in the last 30 years; how many such people have been (A) subsequently charged, (B) tried, (C) found guilty and (D) had convictions overturned on appeal.

Damian Green: The requested information is not collected centrally.

Proceeds of Crime

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department paid to each (a) police force and (b) other agency in respect of (i) non conviction-based confiscation orders, (ii) conviction-based confiscation orders and (iii) cash forfeiture in each year for which figures are available.

Karen Bradley: holding answer 10 February 2014
	The figures are provided in the tables, that I will place in the House Library. The amounts given to front-line agencies by this Government under the asset recovery incentivisation scheme have been more than in any previous equivalent time period.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  which paid public appointment contracts she has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men;
	(2)  what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by her Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women.

Karen Bradley: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 607W.

Public Houses: Opening Hours

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effects on incidence of (a) antisocial behaviour and (b) domestic violence of extensions to pub opening hours.

Norman Baker: holding answer 10 February 2014
	In March 2008 the Home Office evaluated the impact of the Licensing Act 2003 on levels of crime and disorder. The overall volume of incidents of crime and disorder remains unchanged, though there were signs that crimes involving serious violence may have reduced.

Restraint Orders

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many restraint orders have been made by each police force in each year for which figures are available.

Karen Bradley: holding answer 10 February 2014
	Under the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, the Government is committed to enabling assets to be frozen more quickly and earlier in investigations. The figures of the number of restraint orders obtained by police forces in England and Wales from the Joint Asset recovery Database are provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Force 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Avon and Somerset Constabulary 6 12 5 7 25 10 10 17 19 17 
			 Bedfordshire Police 2 4 3 11 21 9 6 25 7 10 
			 Cambridgeshire Constabulary 8 17 21 7 32 25 14 24 24 17 
			 Cheshire Constabulary 2 4 2 6 11 15 16 14 18 14 
			 City of London Police 2 8 1 7 12 10 25 24 14 8 
		
	
	
		
			 Cleveland Police 1 3 3 3 11 28 26 23 22 24 
			 Cumbria Constabulary 2 3 9 10 14 9 15 14 10 13 
			 Derbyshire Constabulary 3 3 16 9 24 24 28 22 19 15 
			 Devon and Cornwall Constabulary 0 4 15 14 21 10 18 37 35 24 
			 Dorset Police 1 3 10 5 13 22 13 19 16 6 
			 Durham Constabulary 1 8 14 30 32 19 14 25 18 22 
			 Dyfed-Powys Police 0 3 1 3 3 10 7 9 6 4 
			 Essex Police 3 1 0 4 12 27 26 24 30 24 
			 Gloucestershire Constabulary 1 3 9 11 10 12 5 35 13 16 
			 Greater Manchester Police 1 14 39 51 44 83 68 75 73 88 
			 Gwent Police 1 0 2 10 7 0 9 10 11 15 
			 Hampshire Constabulary 2 3 8 6 23 13 21 47 51 48 
			 Hertfordshire Constabulary 4 3 19 26 31 62 63 41 35 30 
			 Humberside Police 0 3 21 6 14 22 34 14 30 32 
			 Kent Police 3 14 11 13 15 43 39 39 25 19 
			 Lancashire Constabulary 7 11 29 24 28 26 49 47 32 48 
			 Leicestershire Constabulary 2 12 35 22 32 18 32 27 24 19 
			 Lincolnshire Police 0 5 4 4 6 12 9 13 14 5 
			 Merseyside Police 4 5 12 16 22 7 15 12 17 24 
			 Metropolitan Police Service 27 35 71 100 209 351 259 234 215 189 
			 Norfolk Constabulary 8 11 18 54 33 44 40 54 28 25 
			 North Wales Police 0 1 5 2 12 8 24 11 10 8 
			 North Yorkshire Police 3 9 1 6 12 16 13 11 12 13 
			 Northamptonshire Police 0 1 10 9 12 28 9 17 16 8 
			 Northumbria Police 5 4 4 7 20 29 58 53 15 19 
			 Nottinghamshire Police 3 5 5 8 33 20 19 23 16 19 
			 South Wales Police 3 5 10 6 16 18 26 34 32 18 
			 South Yorkshire Police 0 0 20 21 39 19 21 28 14 16 
			 Staffordshire Police 2 9 13 28 26 41 28 28 12 24 
			 Suffolk Constabulary 3 11 27 31 21 47 42 30 26 19 
			 Surrey Police 4 7 19 6 21 14 20 10 25 21 
			 Sussex Police 2 6 13 12 16 16 28 31 19 25 
			 Thames Valley Police 7 5 23 29 18 32 28 30 15 26 
			 Warwickshire Police 1 0 2 1 3 4 4 9 11 15 
			 West Mercia Constabulary 1 1 4 8 8 11 12 24 14 24 
			 West Midlands Police 6 5 12 22 57 59 75 62 46 19 
			 West Yorkshire Police 1 13 16 17 53 59 57 104 100 57 
			 Wiltshire Constabulary 0 1 1 3 11 9 5 13 5 2

Staff

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of staff of (a) her Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to her work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.

Karen Bradley: The proportion of staff working outside of London, and the local authorities in which they are located, is provided for (a) the Home Department in Table 1 and (b) the Executive agencies and Executive non-departmental public bodies in Tables 2, 3, 4 and 5.
	The Home Office's Executive agencies are HM Passport Office (HMPO) and the National Fraud Authority (NFA).
	The proportion of staff working outside of London, and the local authorities in which they are located, is provided for HMPO in Table 2. The NFA does not have any staff located outside of London.
	The Home Office's Executive non-departmental public bodies are the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), the Security Industry Authority (SIA) and the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC).
	The proportion of staff working outside of London, and the local authorities in which they are located, is provided for the IPCC in Table 3, DBS in Table 4 and SIA in Table 5. The OISC does not have any staff located outside of London.
	
		
			 Table 1: (a) Proportion of civil servants in the core Home Office working outside London by local authority at 31 December 2013 
			 Local Authority Percentage 
			 Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and North East Moray 0.2 
			 Angus and Dundee City 0.0 
			 Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham 0.5 
			 Bedfordshire CC 0.4 
			 Belfast 0.6 
		
	
	
		
			 Berkshire 0.2 
			 Birmingham 1.0 
			 Blackpool 0.0 
			 Bournemouth and Poole 0.3 
			 Bristol, City of 0.6 
			 Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield 0.0 
			 Cambridgeshire CC 0.0 
			 Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan 0.9 
			 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 0.0 
			 Coventry 0.5 
			 Derby 0.0 
			 Durham CC 0.1 
			 East Sussex CC 0.1 
			 Edinburgh, City of 0.4 
			 Essex CC 0.6 
			 Essex CC 1.0 
			 Fife 0.0 
			 Flintshire and Wrexham 0.0 
			 Glasgow City 1.5 
			 Gloucestershire 0.0 
			 Greater Manchester South 3.6 
			 Hampshire CC 0.0 
			 Harrogate 0.0 
			 Hartlepool and Stockton-On-Tees 0.1 
			 Hertfordshire 0.6 
			 Inverness and Nairn and Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey 0.0 
			 Isle of Anglesey 0.1 
			 Kent 7.7 
			 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 0.6 
			 Leeds 2.0 
			 Leicestershire CC and Rutland 0.1 
			 Lincolnshire 0.1 
			 Liverpool 6.8 
			 Luton 0.5 
			 Medway 0.0 
			 Monmouthshire and Newport 0.0 
			 Norfolk 0.1 
			 North and North East Lincolnshire 0.0 
			 North Lanarkshire 0.0 
			 Nottingham 0.0 
			 Oxfordshire 0.0 
			 Peterborough 0.1 
			 Plymouth 0.3 
			 Portsmouth 1.2 
			 Sheffield 6.5 
			 Shropshire CC 0.0 
			 Solihull 1.6 
			 South and West Derbyshire 0.7 
			 South Ayrshire 0.1 
			 South Teesside 0.2 
			 Southampton 0.6 
			 Southend-on-Sea 0.1 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 0.2 
			 Suffolk 1.0 
			 Surrey 0.0 
			 Swansea 0.1 
			 Thurrock 0.8 
			 Tyneside 0.8 
			 West Cumbria 0.0 
			 West Sussex 3.4 
			 Weymouth and Portland 0.0 
			 Worcestershire 0.0 
			 York 0.0 
		
	
	
		
			 Non London local authorities total 49.4 
			   
			 London 48.4 
			 Overseas 2.2 
			 Grand Total 100.0 
			 Notes: 1. Period covered: Data are provided as at 31 December 2013. 2. Extraction date: 1 January 2014. 3. Organisational coverage: Figures are for the core Home Office (including UK Visas and Immigration, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force) only. 4. Employee coverage: Data are based on full-time equivalents (FTE) of all paid civil servants, with a known location, who were current as at the 31 December 2013. Data Source: Data View—the Home Office’s single source of Office for National Statistics compliant monthly snapshot corporate Human Resources data. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: (b) Proportion of civil servants in HM Passport Office (HMPO) working outside London by local authority at 31 December 2013 
			 Local authority Percentage 
			 Belfast 5.7 
			 Berkshire 0.3 
			 Birmingham 0.3 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 0.0 
			 Bristol, City of 0.1 
			 Derby 0.2 
			 Durham CC 19.6 
			 Edinburgh, City of 0.1 
			 Essex CC 0.1 
			 Glasgow City 5.1 
			 Greater Manchester South 2.5 
			 Kent 0.2 
			 Leeds 0.3 
			 Leicester 0.1 
			 Liverpool 28.3 
			 Monmouthshire and Newport 5.2 
			 Peterborough 14.0 
			 Plymouth 0.4 
			 Portsmouth 0.2 
			 Sheffield 0.1 
			 West Sussex 0.2 
			 Non London local authorities total 83.0 
			   
			 London 17.0 
			 Grand Total 100.0 
			 Notes: 1. Period covered: Data are provided as at 31 December 2013. 2. Extraction date: 1 January 2014. 3. Organisational coverage: Figures include the Executive agencies; Her Majesty's Passport Office and the National Fraud Authority. Employee coverage: Data are based on full-time equivalents (FTE) of all paid civil servants, with a known location, who were current as at the 31 December 2013. Data Source: Data View—the Home Office’s single source of Office for National Statistics compliant monthly snapshot corporate Human Resources data. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3: (b) Proportion of staff in the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) working outside London by local authority 
			 Local Authority Percentage 
			 Cardiff County Council 14.4 
			 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council 20.7 
			 Wakefield Metropolitan Borough Council 8.9 
			 Warrington Borough Council 17.9 
			 Non London local authorities total 61.8 
			   
			 London 38.2 
		
	
	
		
			 Grand Total 100.0 
			 Note: Employee Coverage: Figures are headcount and include all staff including temps and Commissioners and are up to date as of 8 February 2014 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 4: (b) Proportion of staff in the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) working outside London by local authority 
			 Local authority Percentage 
			 Darlington Borough Council 29.4 
			 Liverpool City Council 70.6 
			 Non London Local Authorities Total 100.0 
			   
			 London 0.0 
			 Grand Total 100.0 
			 Data Source: DBS 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 5: (b) Proportion of staff in the Security Industry Authority (SIA) working outside London by local authority 
			 Local Authority Percentage 
			 Bassetlaw District Council 0.6 
			 Bournemouth Borough Council 0.6 
			 Cardiff Council 0.6 
			 Cherwell District Council 0.6 
			 Coventry City Council 0.6 
			 Denbighshire County Council 0.6 
			 Derbyshire City Council 0.6 
			 Dudley Metropolitan Council 0.6 
			 Durham City Council 0.6 
			 East Renfrewshire Council 0.6 
			 Elmbridge Borough Council 0.6 
			 Essex County & Harlow Council 1.1 
			 Gravesham Borough Council 0.6 
			 Halton Borough Council 0.6 
			 Harborough or Leicestershire Council 0.6 
			 Hinkley and Bosworth Borough Council 0.6 
			 Leeds City Council 1.1 
			 Leicester City Council 0.6 
			 Lincolnshire City Council 0.6 
			 Newcastle Under Lyme District and Staffordshire Council 0.6 
			 Norwich City Council 0.6 
			 North Kesteven District Council 0.6 
			 North Lanarkshire Council 0.6 
			 North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council 0.6 
			 Northamptonshire County Council 0.6 
			 Northumberland 0.6 
			 Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council 0.6 
			 Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead 0.6 
			 South Gloucestershire council 0.6 
			 South Somerset District Council 0.6 
			 Stafford Borough Council 0.6 
			 Stirling Council 0.6 
			 Stockport Metropolitan Council 0.6 
			 Sunderland City Council 0.6 
			 Warrington Borough Council 1.1 
			 West Devon Borough Council 0.6 
			 Wirral Council 0.6 
			 Non London local authorities total 23.1 
			   
			 London 76.9 
			 Grand Total 100.0 
			 Data Source: SIA

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Business Premises: Rents

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of businesses with an annual rental value of £50,000 or less a year are owned by (a) women and (b) men.

Matthew Hancock: BIS does not hold this information.

Adult Education: Barrow in Furness

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people in Barrow and Furness constituency enrolled in adult skills sessions in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: Final data for 2012/13 academic year show that there were 6,020 adult (19+) learners participating in further education and skills in Barrow and Furness parliamentary constituency.

Equality

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the (a) total departmental expenditure, (b) number and (c) cost of people employed for the purpose of promoting equality and diversity was for each of the last five years.

Jennifer Willott: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was formed in 2009 so there are no figures available until 2010-11. Figures for financial year 2013-14 are not yet available.
	BIS is committed to ensuring its policies and practices secure equality of opportunity for all. To help achieve this, it has spent a total of £689,470.40, including staff costs of £683,970.40, between 2010-11 and 2012-13.
	BIS mainstreams diversity and inclusion in all of its policies and the total number of staff working specifically on equality, diversity and inclusion has reduced from 4.7 FTE in 2010-11 and 2011-12 to 4.0 FTE in 2012-13.
	In 2010-11 and 2011-12 the staffing costs were £224,076.90. In 2012-13 this rose slightly to £235,816.60 due to additional temporary replacement resource to cover maternity leave.

Government Assistance

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer on state aid to Lord Stoddart of Swindon, 23 January 2014, House of Lords, Official Report, column 166WA, what the subject is of each of the UK state aid cases currently before the European Commission for approval.

Jennifer Willott: Since the previous written answer on 23 January 2014, four of the 26 cases have received approval from the European Commission. These are:
	All-Island Collaborative R&D Scheme (Innova)—prolongation
	Enterprise Capital Funds
	Scottish R&D&I Scheme
	Support for land remediation—prolongation.
	One further case has been put on hold by the UK, and four new cases have been notified. The 25 cases currently before the Commission are therefore as follows:
	1. Agricultural and Horticultural Levy Board Market Research Scheme.
	2. Agricultural and Horticultural Levy Board Technical Support Scheme.
	3. Aid for indirect carbon price floor costs.
	4. Amendment to SA.35565—Renewables Obligation (RO) scheme.
	5. Electricity Market Reform: Capacity Market.
	6. Electricity Market Reform—Investment Contract (early Contract for Difference) for the Hinkley Point C New Nuclear Power Station.
	7. Electricity Market Reform—Renewables Contract for Difference.
	8. English Woodland Grant Scheme.
	9. Government support to the Thames Tideway Tunnel project.
	10. Green Bus Fund.
	11. Isles of Scilly Airlinks.
	12. Isles of Scilly and Penzance sealinks.
	13. Liverpool City Council Cruise Liner Terminal.
	14. The Marine Energy Array Demonstrator (MEAD) Scheme.
	15. Modifications to NEST pension scheme.
	16. Northern Ireland Gas Pipeline—extension to the West and the North West.
	17. Partnership support for regeneration.
	18. R&D&I Scheme for Northern Ireland—extension to 31 December 2019.
	19. Regional Stadia Development in Northern Ireland.
	20. Renewables Obligation in Northern Ireland.
	21. Regional Growth Fund—Jaguar LandRover (JLR).
	22. Update to the UK Film Tax Relief.
	23. Video games tax relief.
	24. Waste Contract to provide waste disposal services for spent fuel and intermediate level waste (ILW) from new nuclear power stations.
	25. Welsh Red Meat Advertising Scheme.

Land Registry

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what effect the Government Company option in the consultation on the introduction of a Land Registry service delivery company would have on the role of legal practitioners, in populating the Land Register.

Michael Fallon: The way in which Land Registry's services are delivered will likely change as the business pursues a digital, efficiency and modernisation agenda through its Business Strategy. This will continue irrespective of the outcome of the consultation—including if the status quo is maintained.

Land Registry

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what effect he expects the consultation on the introduction of a Land Registry service delivery company and HM Land Registry's target operating model to have on the size and structure of the Registry.

Michael Fallon: The size and structure of Land Registry may be influenced by the outcome of the consultation, as the future structure of the organisation will necessarily affect business planning.

Land Registry

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he last met representatives of the staff of HM Land Registry to discuss the consultation on the introduction of a Land Registry service delivery company; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: As the Minister responsible for Land Registry, I met representatives of Land Registry staff in March 2013 to discuss the future of Land Registry and a potential change in commercial model.

Land Registry

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how HM Land Registry's target operating model is affected by the consultation on the Registry's status; if he will publish the model; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The Target Operating Model (TOM) includes initial operational planning based on a number of LR business delivery assumptions. The consultation reflects a broader and different range of issues, as it considers and seeks views on a range of Land Registry commercial models.
	Some parts of the TOM will be affected by the consultation's outcome. Therefore, it would be misleading to provide further details

Land Registry

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many full-time equivalent posts there are in each Land Registry office.

Michael Fallon: In the following table are the figures requested for each individual Land Registry office as of 1 February 2014.
	
		
			 Land Registry office Number of full-time equivalent posts 
			 Birkenhead 314 
			 Coventry 203 
			 Croydon 127 
			 Durham 374 
			 Fylde 245 
			 Gloucester 275 
			 Hull 214 
			 Head Office (Croydon) 137 
			 Information Systems (Plymouth) 377 
			 Lytham 183 
			 Nottingham 354 
			 Peterborough 221 
			 Plymouth 207 
			 Telford 174 
			 Wales (Swansea) 403 
			 Weymouth 201

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which Local Enterprise Partnerships shared a first draft of their Strategic Economic Plans with his Department by the end of December 2013; whether his Department provided feedback on each of these plans by the end of January 2014; and which such plans included specific proposals relating to (a) funding for skills provisions and (b) capital funding for further education colleges.

Michael Fallon: All 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) submitted their draft Strategic Economic Plans (SEPs) in December 2013. Feedback from Government began in January 2014 and will continue until the final SEPs are submitted on 31 March 2014.
	The SEPs indicated a strong LEP interest in the skills agenda, including accessing capital funding for further education colleges from the local growth fund.

Pay

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Jennifer Willott: Information about BIS grades, the associated pay ranges and number of staff (headcount) in these grades as at August 2013 is shown in the following table. Please note a number of staff remain on legacy pay ranges inherited from previous Departments.
	
		
			 Grade Headcount 
			 Senior Civil Servants 225 
			   
			 Grade 6 1,048 
			 Grade 7  
			   
			 SEO 1,115 
			 HEO  
			 Fast Stream  
			   
			 EO 410 
			   
			 EA/AO 202 
			 AA  
		
	
	I have approached the chief executives of the Department’s Executive agencies (Insolvency Service, Companies House, National Measurement Office, Intellectual Property Office, UK Space Agency, Ordnance Survey, Met Office, Land Registry and the Skills Funding Agency) and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.
	Information for non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Letter from Catherine Mealing-Jones, dated 10 February 2014
	Thank you for your question addressed to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, to ask how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.
	The UK Space Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and has the following permanent members of staff on each pay grade:
	
		
			 Grade Total 
			 G6 10 
			 G7 12 
			 SEO 8 
			 HEO 9 
			 EO 5 
			 AO 1 
		
	
	Please note this also includes staff on temporary promotion to grades.
	Letter from John Hirst, dated 10 February 2014
	I am replying on behalf of the Met Office to your Parliamentary Questions tabled on 6 February 2014, UIN 187237 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Met Office does not operate a reward system based on pay grades. Rather it has a role based system where each role has a defined purpose, accountabilities and required professional skills. For the purpose of answering this question, these roles have been grouped together in bands that are broadly comparable to Civil Service grades. The information requested, based on these bandings is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Grade Current number of staff (full-time equivalent) 
			 SCS 9 
			 6 73.6 
			 7 286.9 
			 SEO 595.5 
			 HEO 637.7 
			 EO 223.4 
			 AO 133.8 
			 Total 1,959.9 
		
	
	Letter from Dr Vanessa Lawrence, dated 10 February 2014
	As Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, “how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him”.
	Ordnance Survey employs the following numbers in each of the civil service pay grades:
	
		
			 CS grade Headcount 
			 AO 35 
			 EO 557 
			 HEO 153 
			 SEO 300 
			 Grade 7 117 
			 Grade 6 24 
			 SCS 5 
		
	
	Should you have any further questions, please let me know.
	I hope this information is helpful.
	Letter from Tim Moss, dated 7 February 2014
	I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 6 February 2014, UIN 187237 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The number of Civil Servants on each pay grade in Companies House is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Band A 50 
			 Band B 477 
			 Band C 270 
			 Band D 106 
			 Band E 31 
			 Band F 19 
			 Band G 10 
			 SCS 1 2 
			 SCS 2 1 
		
	
	Letter from Peter Mason, dated 10 February 2014
	I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office (NMO), an executive agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 6 February 2014, asking the BIS Secretary of State how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.
	The headcount for NMO as at 31 January 2014 is as follows:
	
		
			 Grade Number of staff 
			 SCS 1 
			 G6 6 
			 G7 10 
			 SEO 16 
			 HEO 22 
			 EO 17 
			 EA 7 
		
	
	Letter from John Alty
	I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 06th February 2014, to the Secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The IPO has its own grading structure with Civil Service equivalent grades. The following table shows the current pay grade distribution as at 01 February 2014:
	
		
			 IPO grade CS equivalent Headcount 
			 A1 AA 37 
			 A2 AO 38 
			 A3 AO 153 
			 B1 EO 87 
			 B2 EO 113 
			 B2 Exr EO 46 
			 B3 HEO 131 
			 C1 SEO 92 
			 C1 Exr SEO 58 
			 C2 Grade 7 70 
			 C2 Exr Grade 7 150 
			 D1 Grade 6 17 
			 SCS 1 SCSI 22 
			 SCS 2 SCS2 2 
			 SCS 3 SCS3 1 
			 Total  1,017 
		
	
	Letter from Ed Lester, dated 10 February 2014
	I write on behalf of Land Registry in response to Parliamentary Question 187237 tabled on 06 February 2014 which asked the following:
	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.
	On 1 February 2014, Land Registry had the following substantive staff in service:
	
		
			  Number 
			 AA 2 
			 AO 158 
			 EO 2,306 
			 HEO 1,327 
			 SEO 489 
			 Grade 7 48 
			 Grade 7 (L) 107 
			 Grade 6 19 
			 SCS 12 
		
	
	I hope that you find this information useful.
	Letter from Dr Richard Judge, dated 7 February 2014
	The Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question, how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him. My response relates to the Insolvency Service, an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The table below shows the number of civil servants at each pay grade.
	
		
			 Insolvency Service Pay Band Number 
			 SCS Pay Band 2 <5 
			 SCS Pay Band 1 6 
			 Grade 6 16 
			 Grade 7 69 
			 Senior Executive Officer 261 
			 Higher Executive Officer 493 
			 Executive Officer 304 
			 Administrative Officer 610 
			 Administrative Assistant 145 
		
	
	Letter from Barbara Spicer, dated 11 February 2014
	Thank you for your question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him. (187237)
	Please be advised that the Skills Funding Agency do not operate on Civil Service pay grades and as such the information provided is based on an approximate match. On the basis of this approximate match the below table outlines the number of employees at the Skills Funding Agency on the Civil Service Grade equivalent:
	
		
			 Civil Service Grade Equivalent Employee Count 
			 AO 85 
			 EO 57 
			 HEO 155 
			 SEO 356 
			 G7 446 
			 G6 161 
			 SCS 36 
			 Total 1,296

Property

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Jennifer Willott: The following table includes the name, location, floor space and tenure status of buildings occupied by the Department. The Department does not own any of the properties or occupy any on a ground lease. Therefore, there is no property value recorded against the space occupied by the Department.
	I have approached the chief executives of the Department's Executive Agencies (Insolvency Service, Companies House, National Measurement Office, Intellectual Property Office, UK Space Agency, Ordnance Survey, Met Office, Land Registry and the Skills Funding Agency) and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.
	Information for non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Property Name/Address Tenure Type Floor Space occupied by BIS (m2) 
			 Alexandra House, Leeds, LS16 6QY Leasehold/Licence 575.6 
			 Apex Court, Nottingham, NG2 4LA Leasehold/Licence 460 
			 Queensway House, Billingham, TS23 2NF Leasehold/Licence 691.2 
			 The Business Centre, Cambridge, CB4 9LQ Leasehold/Licence 89.4 
			 Victoria Street 1, London, SW1H OET Leasehold/Licence 30,573 
			 Kemp House, 152-160 City Road, London, EC1V 2NP Leasehold/Licence 166 
			 Victoria Square House, Victoria Sq, Birmingham, B2 4AJ Leasehold/licence 662.6 
			 3 Piccadilly Place, Manchester, M1 3BN MOTO 250 
			 St Paul's Place, Norfolk Street. Sheffield, S1 2FJ MOTO 1,844 
			 Companies House, Maindy, Cardiff, CF14 3UZ MOTO 1,056 
			 Watford Exchange House, Exchange Rd, Watford,WD18 0JJ MOTO 560 
			 Europa House, Argyle Street, Glasgow, G2 8LG MOTO 448 
			 Victoria House, Southampton Row, WC1B 4AD MOTO 1,056 
			 2 Rivergate, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6EH MOTO 341.50 
			 Arndale House, Arndale Centre. Manchester, M4 3AQ MOTO 1— 
			 Moongate House, Fifth Avenue Business Pk, Gateshead, NE11 OHF MOTO 1— 
			 Bridge House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, GU1 4GA MOTO 1— 
			 Mowden Hall, Staindrop Road, Darlington, DL3 9BG 2— 2— 
			 Daresbury Laboratory, Keckwick Lane, Daresbury, Warrington, WA4 4AD Leasehold/licence 1— 
			 Cannon House, 18 Priory Queensway, Birmingham B4 6BS 3— 3— 
			 Larkhill, Wiltshire 4— 4— 
			 Stanley Barracks, Dorset 4— 4— 
			 1 N/A—space occupied on desk basis. 2 Building is owned by another Government Department. No formal agreement in place to occupy space. 3 Building is leased by another Government organisation. No formal agreement in place to occupy space. 4 Informal agreement with MOD. Note: MOTO stands for Memorandum of Terms of Occupation and is a type of licence agreement for the sharing of accommodation between Government organisations known as "Crown Bodies". 
		
	
	Letter from Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB, dated 12 February 2014
	As Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, "what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him".
	The spreadsheet details all the information requested for all premises owned or occupied by Ordnance Survey. This information will be placed in the Libraries of the House of Commons.
	Should you have any further questions, please let me know.
	I hope this information is helpful.
	Letter from David Parker, dated 7 February 2014
	Thank you for your question addressed to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, to ask what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.
	The UK Space Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. It does not (i) own any properties. It (ii) occupies three locations as follows:
	
		
			 A Name Polaris House Electron Building 1 Victoria Street 
			 B Location Swindon Harwell London 
			 C Floor Space 350m2 30m2 30m2 respectively 
			 D Tenure Status Leased from the Research Councils Leased from STFC Informal space given to UK Space Agency from BIS 
			 E Value if none No buildings are owned by the UK Space Agency. For the three office locations space is leased within larger buildings with multiple occupiers. 
		
	
	Letter from John Hirst, dated 12 February 2014
	I am replying on behalf of the Met Office to your Parliamentary Questions tabled on 6 February 2014, UIN 187278 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Met Office owns and leases a range of properties around the UK to support its weather and climate services. This includes office, workshop and storage accommodation, as well as a number of small unmanned sites which house essential operational observing equipment, such as weather radar and automatic weather stations. A list of these sites has been placed in the Libraries of the House. In addition, a number of Met Office staff are based at a range of MOD sites providing crucial support to military training and operations.
	The value of the properties owned and occupied by the Met Office which are held on balance sheet is £63.8 million.
	I hope this helps.
	Letter from Tim Moss, dated 7 February 2014
	I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 6 February 2014, UIN 187278 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	I will answer your questions in order.
	Companies House has four locations, all named Companies House, in Cardiff, London, Edinburgh and Belfast.
	The floor space for each office is as follows:
	
		
			 Office Floor Space 
			 Cardiff 29,000 
			 Edinburgh 725 
			 Belfast 560 
			 London 229 
			 Total 30,514 
		
	
	The tenure status of the Cardiff site is freehold. The locations in London, Edinburgh and Belfast are rented.
	The value of the land and buildings of the freehold site in Cardiff is £17,345,000.
	Companies House Cardiff occupies 22.310 square metres of the site and the remaining 6,690 square metres is rented out.
	Letter from National Measurement office, dated 12 February 2014
	I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office (NMO), an executive agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 6 February 2014, asking the BIS Secretary of State what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.
	The Secretary of State owns the properties on the Teddington Estate which comprise the main NPL Building and other older ancillary buildings. The total value of these are £177,702k which is the value stated in NMO's Annual Accounts at 31 March 2013, uplifted for purchases to the end of January 2014. The total area of the buildings are 54,347m sq and are occupied by NMO, NPL Management Ltd (NPLML) and BMT.
	NMO itself occupies a building with a value of £6,621k and an area of 4,709 m sq which is freehold.
	NPLML occupy buildings valued at £167,186k which are freehold with an area of 45,117 m sq, they also occupy buildings valued at £3,570k with an area of 4,521 m sq on leasehold land owned by Crown Estate and Royal Parks. NPLML perform science in support of the National Measurement System in these properties and pay rent to NMO.
	BMT occupy freehold buildings with a value of £324,000, and pay rent to NMO.
	The above references to ‘value’ are ‘book values’ and not necessarily the final sale value of the property asset.
	Letter from Ed Lester, dated 10 February 2014
	I write on behalf of Land Registry in response to Parliamentary Question 187278 tabled on 06 February 2014 which asked the following:
	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.
	The following table gives details as requested.
	
		
			 Agency Location Building Name Tenure NIA (Sqm) Valuation MV (£) (2013) 
			 Land Registry Birkenhead Rosebrae Court Freehold 5,702.10 4,870,000 
			 Land Registry Coventry Leigh Court Lease 6,753.30 4,290,000 
			 Land Registry Croydon Trafalgar House Freehold 4,309.90 11,300,000 
			 Land Registry Durham Southfield House Freehold 7,903.80 8,000,000 
			 Land Registry Fylde, Preston Wrea Brook Court Freehold 3,925.80 3,950,000 
			 Land Registry Gloucester Twyver House Lease 6,876.80 1,550,000 
			 Land Registry Hull Earle House (North Wing) Lease 4,829.20 2,100,000 
			 Land Registry Plymouth Seaton Court Freehold 6,761.00 7,850,000 
			 Land Registry Leicester Westbridge Place and Nursery Freehold 4,147.10 4,300,000 
			 Land Registry Nottingham Castle Wharf House Lease 3,907.10 0 
			 Land Registry Peterborough Stuart House Lease 2,035.37 0 
			 Land Registry Telford Parkside Court Freehold 6,554.90 5,250,000 
			 Land Registry Swansea Ty Cwm Tawe Lease 4,728.10 3,100,000 
			 Land Registry Weymouth Melcombe Court Lease 5,753.40 3,500,000 
			 Land Registry Coventry Edwards Keep Lease 2,749.90 650,000 
			 Land Registry Hull Earle House (South Wing) Freehold 2,246.50 1,600,000 
			 Land Registry York James House Lease 3,156.50 0 
			 Land Registry Swansea Pennard House Lease 490.20 409,000 
			 Land Registry Birkenhead Old Market House Freehold 5,246.00 3,450,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Land Registry Plymouth Drakes Hill Court Freehold 4,892.80 1,200,000 
			 Land Registry Nottingham Chalfont Drive Freehold 25,207 00 13,000,000 
			     118,176.77 80,369,000 
		
	
	I hope that you find this information useful.
	Letter from John Alty, dated 9 January 2014
	I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 10th February 2014, to the Secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Intellectual Property Office is an Executive Agency and Trading Fund of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. It operates in three locations, a main office, a small London Office and a warehouse.
	
		
			 Status Owned Occupied (partial) Occupied 
			 Name Concept House 4 Abbey Orchard Street Unit 6 
			 Location Cardiff Road Newport South Wales NP10 8QQ Westminster London SW1P 2HT Nine Mile Point Industrial Estate Cwmfelinfach NP11 7HZ 
			 Floor space 15,788 sqm net internal area (NIA) including 1,803 which is sub let. 768 sqm NIA 2,695 sqm NIA of warehouse space 
			 Tenure Freehold Tenancy agreement with BIS Agreed to extend lease to November 2017 
			 Value £17.85 million on the basis of existing use Not Known Not known 
		
	
	Letter from Dr Richard Judge, dated 13 February 2014
	The Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question, what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him. My response relates to the Insolvency Service, an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	The Insolvency Service does not own any property. The property currently occupied by the Insolvency Service is as follows:
	
		
			 Name Location Tenure Status Floor Space (m2) 
			 Cannon House Level 3 and 4, Cannon House, 18 Priory Queensway, Birmingham B4 6BS Leasehold 3,990 
			 Cobalt Square 83 Hagley Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B16 8QG Leasehold 1,327 
			 Seneca House The Links, Blackpool Business Park, Amy Johnson Way, Blackpool FY4 2RS Leasehold 688 
			 Crown House Part 5th Floor, Northside, Crown House, 11 Regent Hill, 21 Upper North Street, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 3EL. Memorandum of Terms of Occupation with HMRC 330 
			 Tower Wharf Part First Floor, Tower Wharf, Cheese Lane, Bristol BS2 OJJ Leasehold 586 
		
	
	
		
			 Eastbrook House Part Ground and Third Floor Eastbrook House, Cambridge CB2 8DR Memorandum of Terms of Occupation with DEFRA 254 
			 The Observatory West Wing, Ground Floor, The Observatory, Brunei, Chatham Maritime, Kent. ME4 4NT. Leasehold 420 
			 Companies House Companies House, Part 3rd Floor, Crown Way, Cardiff, CF14 3ZA Memorandum of Terms of Occupation with Companies House 664 
			 Southern House 11th Floor, Southern House, Wellesley Grove, Croydon, CRO 1XN. Memorandum of Terms of Occupation with HMRC 743 
			 Ladywell House Ladywell House, Part 2nd floor, Ladywell Road, Corstorphine, Edinburgh, EH12 7TF Memorandum of Terms of Occupation with the General Register Office for Scotland 500 
			 Senate Court Senate Court, 3rd Floor, Southernhay Gardens, Exeter, EX1 1UG Leasehold 766 
			 Northgate Court Northgate Court, Grnd 1st and 2nd Floor,22-23 London Road, Gloucester, GL1 3HB Leasehold 481 
			 Anchor House Anchor House, 3rd Floor—Suites I , J, K & L The Maltings, Silvester Street, Hull, HU1 3HA Leasehold 877 
			 St Clare House 1st and 8th Floors, St Clare House, Princes Street, Ipswich, IP1 1LX Memorandum of Terms of Occupation with HMRC 522 
			 City Walk 1 City Walk, 3rd Floor, Leeds, LS11 9DA Leasehold 1,059 
			 Wellington House Wellington House, 4th Floor, Wellington Street, Leicester LE1 6HL Leasehold 568 
			 Rosebrae Court 2nd Floor, Rosebrae Court, Woodside Ferry Approach, Birkenhead CH41 6DU Memorandum of Terms of Occupation with the Land Registry 336 
			 London 4 Abbey Orchard Street, London SW1P2HT Memorandum of Terms of Occupation with BIS 2,103 
			 Piccadilly Place 2nd Floor, 3 Piccadilly place, London Road, Manchester, M1 3BN Leasehold 1,853 
			 Melbourne House 1st floor, Melbourne House, Pandon Bank, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 2JQ Leasehold 604 
			 Sol House 1st Floor, Sol House, 29 St Katherine's Street, Northampton, NN1 2QZ Leasehold 565 
		
	
	
		
			 Emmanuel House 2 Convent Road, Norwich, NR2 1PA Leasehold 697 
			 Cobourg House 1st floor, Gobourg House, Mayflower Street, Plymouth, PL1 1DJ Leasehold 711 
			 Reading Apex Plaza, 3rd Floor, Forbury Road, Reading, RG11AX Leasehold 759 
			 The Balance City Plaza, 5th Floor, City Plaza South, Pinfold Street, Sheffield, S1 2GU Leasehold 492 
			 MCA House 1st Floor, MCA House, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Rd, Southampton, S015 1EG. Memorandum of Terms of Occupation with the Marine and Coastguard Agency 372 
			 Alexander House 2nd Floor West, Alexander House, 21 Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS99 1AA Memorandum of Terms of Occupation with HMRC 500 
			 Trident House Trident House, 1st Floor, 42/48 Victoria Street, St Albans, AL1 3HR Leasehold 656 
			 Copthall House Copthall House, Ground Floor, Copthall House, Nelson Place, King Street, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs, ST5 1UE Leasehold 613 
			 Langdon House 1st, 2nd and 3rd Floors, Langdon House, Langdon Road, Swansea, SA1 8QY Leasehold 714 
			 Exchange House Part 4th Floor, Exchange House, 60 Exchange Road, Watford, Herts, WD18 0YP Memorandum of Terms of Occupation with DWP 410 
			  The Vanguard Suite, Broadcasting House, Newport Road, Licence 20 
			 Remote Interview Facility Middlesbrough, TS1 5JA   
			 Remote Interview Facility Conwy Business Centre, Junction Way, Llandudno Junction, LL31 9XX Leasehold 17 
			 Remote Interview Facility 1 Rhyd-Broughton Lane (Tribunal Room 3), Rhyd-Broughton Lane, Wrexham, LL13 7YP Memorandum of Terms of Occupation with Ministry of Justice 30 
		
	
	Property leases were valued at £6,789,193 in our accounts for the year to 31 March 2013.
	Letter from Skills Funding Agency, dated 11 February 2014
	Thank you for your question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills regarding what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him. (187278)
	Please be advised of the following:
	
		
			 Skills Funding Agency occupied properties as at 10 February 2014 
			 Skills Funding agency Office Location Tenure Value Floor Space Area (m2) 
			 Birmingham Victoria Sq Hse—Birmingham MOTO 1— 662 
			 Bristol 2 Rivergate—Bristol MOTO 1— 418 
			 Chatham The Observatory—Chatham MOTO 1— 475 
			 Coventry Cheylesmore House—Coventry Leasehold 1— 10,598 
			 Gateshead Moongate House—Gateshead Leasehold 1— 2,188 
			 Histon The Business Centre—Histon MOTO 1— 531 
			 Leeds The Cube—Leeds MOTO 1— 492 
			 Liverpool 12 Princes Dock—Liverpool MOTO 1— 282 
			 London 10 Victoria Street—London MOTO 1— 1123 
			 Manchester Arndale House—Manchester Leasehold 1— 1882 
			 Nottingham Apex Court—Nottingham MOTO 1— 253 
			 Plymouth Foliot House—Plymouth Leasehold 1— 1193 
			 Reading Pacific House—Reading Leasehold 1— 1345 
			 Titchfield Segensworth Road—Titchfield MOTO 1— 397 
			 1 No value as Leasehold or MOTO. Do not own.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  which paid public appointment contracts he has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men;
	(2)  what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by his Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women.

Jennifer Willott: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 607W.

Staff

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of staff of (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.

Jennifer Willott: Approximately 17% of staff in the core Department for Business, Innovation and Skills are located outside of London. Data on this issue is published regularly on the Office for National Statistics website. The most recent publication in October 2013 showed that 72% of civil servants working in the BIS family of organisations were located outside London.
	I have approached the chief executives of the Department's Executive agencies (Insolvency Service, Companies House, National Measurement Office, Intellectual Property Office, UK Space Agency, Ordnance Survey, Met Office, Land Registry and the Skills Funding Agency) and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.
	Letter from Tim Moss, dated 7 February 2014
	I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 6 February 2014. UIN 187259 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The proportion of Companies House staff that work outside London is 99%.
	Letter from Vanessa Lawrence, dated 10 February 2014
	As Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, "what proportion of staff of (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him work outside of London, and in which local authorities such staff are located".
	I can advise that 96% of Ordnance Survey employees work outside of London. In this instance we have defined 'London' by Borough, and excluded the areas holding 'Borough of London' status, for example 'London Borough of Ealing'.
	Following is a breakdown of the local authorities where our employees outside of London are located.
	I hope the information that I have been able to provide is helpful.
	
		
			 Local authority Number of staff 
			 Aberdeen City 1 
			 Aberdeenshire 1 
			 Allerdale 1 
			 Angus 2 
			 Aylesbury Vale 1 
			 Basingstoke and Deane 1 
			 Bassetlaw 1 
			 Bedford 2 
			 Birmingham 2 
			 Blaby 2 
			 Blackburn 2 
			 Blackpool 1 
			 Blaenau Gwent 2 
			 Bolton 2 
			 Bradford 2 
			 Bromsgrove 1 
			 Broxtowe 2 
			 Burnley 1 
			 Calderdale 1 
			 Cardiff 1 
			 Central Bedfordshire 2 
			 Chelmsford 4 
			 Cherwell 2 
			 Cheshire East 2 
			 Cheshire West and Chester 3 
			 Chesterfield 1 
			 Chichester 1 
			 Chorley 1 
			 City of Edinburgh 3 
			 City of Kingston upon Hull 3 
			 City of Peterborough 1 
			 City of Plymouth 2 
			 City of Southampton 1 
			 Cornwall 1 
			 Coventry 4 
			 Craven 1 
			 Darlington 1 
			 Derbyshire Dales 2 
			 Doncaster 2 
			 Dudley 2 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 1 
			 Durham 6 
			 East Cambridgeshire 2 
		
	
	
		
			 East Devon 1 
			 East Hampshire 2 
			 East Lothian 1 
			 East Renfrewshire 4 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 2 
			 Eastbourne 1 
			 Erewash 1 
			 Exeter 6 
			 Falkirk 4 
			 Fife 3 
			 Flintshire 1 
			 Fylde 1 
			 Glasgow City 1 
			 Gloucester 1 
			 Gwynedd 2 
			 Halton 1 
			 Hambleton 2 
			 Harborough 2 
			 Harrogate 1 
			 Herefordshire 2 
			 High Peak 1 
			 Highland 2 
			 Horsham 2 
			 Huntingdonshrie 1 
			 Isle of Anglesey 1 
			 Isle of Wight 1 
			 Kettering 1 
			 Kings Lynn and West Norfolk 1 
			 Kirklees 2 
			 Leeds 5 
			 Liverpool 3 
			 Maidstone 1 
			 Malvern Hills 1 
			 Medway 1 
			 Milton Keynes 3 
			 Monmouthshire 1 
			 Moray 1 
			 Newcastle City 1 
			 Newcastle-under-Lyme 1 
			 Newport 1 
			 North Ayrshire 2 
			 North Devon 1 
			 North East Lincolnshire 1 
			 North Hertfordshire 1 
			 North Norfolk 1 
			 North West Leicestershire 1 
			 Northumberland 3 
			 Norwich 2 
			 Nottingham City 2 
			 Nuneaton and Bedworth 2 
			 Perth and Kinross 1 
			 Powys 1 
			 Reigate and Banstead 1 
			 Ribble Valley 3 
			 Rochdale 1 
			 Rotherham 4 
			 Rugby 1 
			 Ryedale 1 
			 Salford 1 
			 Scottish Borders 1 
			 Sefton 1 
			 Selby 1 
			 Sevenoaks 1 
			 Sheffield 2 
		
	
	
		
			 Shepway 4 
			 Shropshire 3 
			 Solihull 1 
			 South Ayrshire 3 
			 South Derbyshire 1 
			 South Gloucestershire 4 
			 South Hams 1 
			 South Kesteven 1 
			 South Lanarkshire 3 
			 South Norfolk 1 
			 South Northamptonshire 1 
			 Southend-on-Sea 1 
			 St Edmundsbury 2 
			 St Helens 3 
			 Stevenage 2 
			 Suffolk Coastal 1 
			 Sunderland 1 
			 Swale 1 
			 Swansea 3 
			 Tandridge 1 
			 Taunton Deane 1 
			 Telford 3 
			 Test Valley 894 
			 The Vale of Glamorgan 1 
			 Tonbridge and Malling 2 
			 Torbay 1 
			 Torfaen 1 
			 Torridge 1 
			 Trafford 1 
			 Walsall 1 
			 Warwick 2 
			 Waverley 1 
			 Wealden 1 
			 West Berkshire 1 
			 West Dorset 1 
			 West Lancashire 2 
			 West Lindsey 2 
			 West Lothian 2 
			 West Oxfordshire 1 
			 Weymouth and Portland 1 
			 Wigan 1 
			 Wiltshire 3 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 1 
			 Wirral 2 
			 Wokingham 1 
			 Worcester 6 
			 Wrexham 1 
			 Wychavon 1 
			 Wyre Forest 2 
			 York 2 
		
	
	Letter from John Alty, dated 9 January 2014
	I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 06th February 2014, to the Secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	A. Out of a total of 1017 staff (as at 01 February 2014), 963 (95%) are based outside London.
	B. The following table shows the distribution breakdown and local authority:
	
		
			 Location Headcount Percentage Local authority 
			 London 54 5 n/a 
			 Newport 952 94 Newport City Council 
			 Cwmfelinfach 11 1 Caerphilly County Borough Council 
			 Total 1,017 100  
		
	
	Letter from Ed Lester, dated 10 February 2014
	I write on behalf of Land Registry in response to Parliamentary Question 187259 tabled on 06 February 2014 which asked the following:
	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of staff of (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.
	If we use the Civil Service classification, our Croydon Office counts as the London region. If you are happy to follow that definition, as at 1 February 2014, 93.8% of our staff work outside of London.
	The following chart shows where our staff are located and in which local authorities.
	I hope that you find this information useful.
	
		
			 Office Council 
			 Birkenhead Borough of Wirral 
			 Coventry Coventry City Council 
			 Croydon Croydon Council 
			 Durham Durham County Council 
			 Fylde Fylde Borough Council 
			 Gloucester Gloucester City Council 
			 Hull Hull City Council 
			 Lytham Leicester City Council 
			 Nottingham City of Nottingham 
			 Peterborough Peterborough City Council 
			 Plymouth South Ham District Council 
			 Plymouth Plymouth Council 
			 Telford Telford & Wrekin Council 
			 Wales City of Swansea 
			 Weymouth West Dorset District Council 
			 York City of York 
		
	
	Letter from the Insolvency Service, dated 10 February 2014
	The Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question, what proportion of staff of (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located. My response relates to the Insolvency Service, an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	Seventy nine per cent of staff work outside of London. Staff outside of London work within the local authority areas shown as follows:
	Birmingham City Council
	Blackpool Borough Council
	Brighton & Hove City Council
	Bristol City Council
	Cambridge City Council
	Cardiff City Council
	Edinburgh City Council
	Exeter City Council
	Gloucester City Council
	Kingston-upon-Hull City Council
	Ipswich Borough Council
	Leeds City Council
	Leicester City Council
	Manchester City Council
	Medway Council
	Newcastle-under-Lyme District Council
	Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Council
	Northampton Borough Council
	Norwich City Council
	Nottingham City Council
	Plymouth City Council
	Reading Borough Council
	St. Albans City & District Council
	Sheffield City Council
	Southampton City Council
	Southend-on-Sea Borough Council
	Swansea City Council
	Watford Borough Council
	Wirral Council
	Letter from Skills Funding Agency, dated 10 February 2014
	Thank you for your question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of staff of (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located. (187259)
	Please be advised that the proportion of Skills Funding Agency staff that work outside of London by local office and local authority area is shown as follows:
	
		
			 Location Local authority Total staff Percentage of total staff 
			 SFA Birmingham Birmingham 82 6.33 
			 SFA Bristol Bristol 38 2.93 
			 SFA Chatham Medway 26 2.01 
			 SFA Coventry Coventry 453 34.95 
			 SFA Fareham Fareham 44 3.40 
			 SFA Gateshead Gateshead 75 5.79 
			 SFA Histon Cambridgeshire 52 4.01 
			 SFA Leeds Leeds 84 6.48 
			 SFA Leicester Leicester 1 0.08 
			 SFA Liverpool Liverpool 39 3.01 
			 SFA Manchester Manchester 82 6.33 
			 SFA Nottingham Nottingham 50 3.86 
			 SFA Plymouth Plymouth 29 2.24 
			 SFA Reading Reading 45 3.47 
			 SFA Sheffield Sheffield 16 1.23 
		
	
	The Skills Funding Agency has 169 staff, representing 13.04% of total staff working in the London office and London authority area. The remaining 11 staff representing 0.85% of total staff are home based.
	Letter from David Parker, dated 7 February 2014
	Thank you for your question addressed to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, to ask what proportion of staff of (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.
	The UK Space Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and 81% of its staff work outside of London: located in Swindon, Oxfordshire and Bedfordshire local authorities.
	Letter from Met Office, dated 12 February 2014
	I am replying on behalf of the Met Office to your Parliamentary Questions tabled on 6 February 2014, UIN 187259 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The proportion of Met Office staff working outside of Greater London is 96.8 per cent, located in the following local authority areas:
	
		
			 Local authority Proportion of Met Office staff (percentage) 
			 Aberdeen City 2.3 
			 Antrim 0.5 
			 Bedford 0.5 
			 Birmingham 0.1 
			 Cardiff 0.3 
			 Cambridgeshire County 0.1 
			 Central Bedfordshire 0.4 
			 Ceredigion 0.4 
			 City of Edinburgh 1.4 
			 Cornwall 0.3 
			 Devon County 76.0 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 0.1 
			 Fife 0.6 
			 Glasgow City 0.2 
			 Hampshire County 1.0 
			 Hertfordshire County 0.4 
			 Isle of Anglesey 0.3 
			 Lancashire County 0.2 
			 Leeds 0.1 
			 Lincolnshire County 2.1 
			 Moray 0.8 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 0.1 
			 Norfolk County 0.2 
			 North Yorkshire County 1.1 
			 Nottinghamshire County 0.5 
			 Overseas 1.5 
			 Oxfordshire County 1.4 
			 Shetland Islands 0.2 
			 Shropshire 0.5 
			 Southampton 0.5 
			 Stockport 0.2 
			 Suffolk County 0.5 
			 Surrey County 0.1 
			 Warrington 0.1 
			 West Sussex County 0.1 
			 Wiltshire 0.8 
			 Wokingham 1.2 
			 Wolverhampton 0.1 
		
	
	I hope this helps.
	Letter from Sarah Glasspool, dated 10 February 2014
	I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office (NMO), an executive agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 6 February 2014, asking the BIS Secretary of State what proportion of staff of (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.
	The NMO is located in a single office based in Teddington and, as at 31 January 2014, employs 79 staff. The local authority which covers NMO's location is the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames.

Students: Loans

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many (a) women and (b) men applied for the 24+ advanced learning loan in the 20013-14 academic year;
	(2)  how many (a) women and (b) men aged 24-years-old and above applied for Government financial assistance for further education in each of the academic years between 2008 and 2013.

Matthew Hancock: The number of women and men that have applied for 24+ advanced learning loans for the 2013/14 academic year so far (up to 31 December 2013) is published every month. 24+ Advanced learning loans are available for eligible learners aged 24 and above studying at Level 3 and above. The latest information can be found here:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/Statistics/fe_data_library/other_statistics_and_research/24advancedlearningloans/
	Table 1 shows the number of learners aged 24 and over participating in Government-funded further education and skills by gender at all levels. Final data are shown for the 2008/09 to 2012/13 academic years and provisional data are shown for the first quarter of the 2013/14 academic year (August 2013 to October 2013).
	
		
			 Table 1: Further education and skills learner participation by those aged 24 and over by gender, 2008/09 to 2013/14 (quarter 1 provisional) 
			 24+ Learner Participation    
			  Female Male Total 
			 2008/09 1,855,900 1,232,000 3,087,900 
			 2009/10 1,704,500 1,151,600 2,856,100 
			 2010/11 1,493,700 1,011,200 2,504,900 
			 2011/12 1,459,000 1,027,100 2,486,100 
			 2012/131 1,512,300 1,065,400 2,577,700 
			 2013/14 661,500 414,000 1,075,500 
			 1 Quarter 1 provisional. Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 2. These data include adult (aged 24+) government funded participation in apprenticeships, workplace learning, community learning and education and training provision taken at general further education colleges (including tertiary) only. 3. Figures for 2011/12 are not directly comparable to earlier years as a single individualised learner record (ILR) data collection system has been introduced. Small technical changes have been made in the way learners from more than one provision type are counted, leading to a removal of duplicate learners and a reduction in overall learner numbers of approximately 2%. More information on the single ILR is available at: http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/C05DCDD5-67EE-4AD0-88B9-BEBC8F7F3300/0/SILR_Effects_SFR_Learners_June12.pdf 4. Figures for the first quarter of 2013/14 (August 2013 to October 2013) are provisional. It is not possible to directly compare provisional estimates with figures for previous years. 5. Total figures for 2013/14 include a small number of learners with an unknown gender. 6. Learners with an unknown age have not been included. Source: Individualised Learner Record

Students: Loans

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which colleges have incorrectly advertised eligibility and access to Student Loans Company services in the last year.

David Willetts: This Department has identified that, during the last year, Ice Academy incorrectly advertised that students studying at several of its campuses were eligible for student support.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Government's commitment to give due consideration to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) when making new policy and legislation, if he will place in the Library all assessments of how new policy and legislation from his Department since January 2013 has given due consideration to the UNCRC.

Jennifer Willott: I refer the hon. Member to my reply to my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Burstow) on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 548W.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Haiti

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of aid pledged to Haiti by her Department following the earthquake in January 2010 has arrived in that country to date.

Justine Greening: The UK Government provided £20 million of support to Haiti following the devastating earthquake in 2010. All funding was dispersed within 12 months of the commitment.

Pakistan

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of aid pledged to Pakistan by her Department following the floods in July and August 2010 has arrived in that country to date.

Justine Greening: All of the humanitarian aid earmarked for the Pakistan floods of 2010 has been delivered.

Pay

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) her Department and (b) the public body accountable to her.

Alan Duncan: As at 10 February 2014 DFID employed 1909 civil servants. This is split by grade as follows:
	
		
			 Grade Numbers employed 
			 Senior Civil Servants 85 
			 A1 398 
			 A2 821 
			 B1 325 
			 B2 188 
			 C1 84 
			 C2 8 
		
	
	The public bodies accountable to DFID employ fewer than five civil servants in total and therefore does not permit publication as requested.

Philippines

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of aid pledged by her Department to the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan has arrived in that country to date.

Justine Greening: The UK Government has committed £77 million to support the international humanitarian response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
	To meet the most urgent needs, £49 million of aid has already been delivered. It is anticipated that a total of £72 million of aid will be delivered by the end of March 2014. The remaining funds will be used to support the long-term recovery of affected populations, and will be allocated to partners according to requested periods of disbursement.

Procurement

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her Department's and non-departmental public body's 10 largest contracts let since the financial year 2010-11 are; what savings have been made in such contracts; what the level of overspend or underspend was in each such contract; and what steps her Department has taken to monitor the performance of each supplier following the contract award.

Justine Greening: DFID has established strategic supplier performance management, including a Statement of Priorities and Expectations that over 500 suppliers signed up to, clearly laying out key areas of performance; and for its top suppliers a key supplier management programme through which relationships and performance are discussed and improved.
	The Department's 10 largest contracts let since financial year 2010-11 are:
	Girls Education Challenge
	Access to Primary Healthcare
	International Citizen Service
	Managing Agent of the Education Quality Improvement Programme in Tanzania
	Management of the Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility
	Impact evaluation of "MAMATA" Orissa Maternity Support Scheme
	Civil Society Challenge Fund
	Private Enterprise Programme-Technical Service Provider
	Malaria Control in the Democratic Republic of Congo Programme
	Procurement of East and Southern Africa Staple Food Markets Programme
	Regular operational reviews within the DFID country office with its suppliers, delivering programmes, ensure day to day contract and performance issues are managed. Annual reviews are conducted to ensure the contract continues to be reflective of the current strategic vision.
	The DFID procurement team was awarded the 'Best International Procurement Project of the Year' in September 2013 by the globally-recognised Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply.
	The procurement department typically achieves in the region of 10% savings across its contract spend through its procurement process, based upon initial tender responses to final contract award.

Property

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) her Department and (B) the public body accountable to her.

Alan Duncan: DFID owns two HQ buildings in the UK, one in London and one in east Kilbride, Glasgow. The London office is situated at 22-26 Whitehall SW1A 2WH, has a net internal area of 8,678 square metres and is valued at £41,145,000. The east Kilbride office is Abercrombie House, Eaglesham Road, East Kilbride G75 8EA, has a net internal area of 9,513 square metres, the site area is 10.5 acres and it is valued at £6,200,000. Both properties are freehold.
	The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) is a non-departmental public body of DFID and does not own any premises. It occupies a small part of Dover House, 66 Whitehall, London SW1A 2AU. The floor space is 42.1 square metres and ICAI rents the space from the Scotland Office. DFID does not hold information on the value of the Scotland Office.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by her Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women;
	(2)  which paid public appointment contracts she has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men.

Alan Duncan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 607W.

Staff

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of staff of (a) her Department and (b) the public body accountable to her work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.

Alan Duncan: As at 10 February 2014, DFID employs 561 staff at its east Kilbride headquarters which is located in south Lanarkshire. This equates to 41.2% of its current UK-based work force.
	There are no staff employed by the public bodies accountable to DFID who work outside London.

Uganda

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether funding has been provided to the Ugandan parliament's Committee on Human Rights Affairs through the Deepening Democracy programme Phase 2; and whether such funding will be so provided during the remainder of the programme.

Lynne Featherstone: The Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) is a basket fund which DFID and seven other donors contribute to, running from 2012-16. The Deepening Democracy programme is one of its components.
	DGF's support to the newly-created Human Rights Committee began in 2012 and runs until June 2014, after which the DGF will make recommendations to its donors on future programming.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Females: Employment

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what progress she is making on removing barriers for women in the workplace; and how many companies have now engaged in the Think, Act, Report programme.

Jennifer Willott: There are more women employed in the UK than ever before-531,000 more than in May 2010. The Government has cut tax for over 24 million working people by raising the personal tax free allowance-58% of the 2.7 million lowest paid workers who will have been lifted out of income tax altogether are women. We have increased free early education places for three and four-year-olds, and are extending that to 260,000 two-year-olds from September 2014. We are extending the right to request flexible working to all employees, and introducing a new system of shared parental leave so parents can choose how best to share caring responsibilities. We have also seen unprecedented progress in women's representation on the boards of our leading companies.
	Over 160 companies have now committed to supporting “Think, Act, Report”, collectively employing over 2 million people. Many of those companies are now publishing detailed information about the position of women within their work forces, and a number have completed gender pay audits.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities which paid public appointment contracts the Government Equalities Office has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men.

Helen Grant: The Government publishes details of diversity in public appointments across Departments. The latest list can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/262039/diversity-pub-appointments-_1-April-30-Sept-2013.csv/preview
	Figures for 1 October 2013 to 31 March 2014 will be published later this year.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by the Government Equalities Office since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women.

Helen Grant: Figures in relation to diversity for public appointments within the jurisdiction of the Commission for Public Appointments for 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 can be found on the website at:
	http://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/
	Copies are also available in the Library of the House.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts Council England

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what guidance her Department has issued to the Arts Council on its distribution of funds across urban and rural communities.

Edward Vaizey: The Government is committed to supporting arts and culture and, as such, the Arts Council will receive nearly £3 billion of public funding over the lifetime of this Parliament. The Arts Council is an ALB and funding decisions are made independently of Government. The Arts Council's strategy, “Achieving Great Art and Culture for Everyone”, states that the Arts Council will "take full account of the respective needs of rural and urban communities, so that people are not disadvantaged by where they live."

Arts: Non-domestic Rates

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has made to (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the inclusion of (i) cinemas, (ii) art galleries, (iii) local cultural centres and (iv) other arts-related premises within the scope of business rates discount.

Edward Vaizey: I have regular discussions with the Chancellor and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on a range of issues affecting the cultural sector. The rate relief announced by the Chancellor at the autumn statement is primarily aimed at small retail properties on the high street—shops, restaurants, cafes and drinking establishments.
	However, cinemas and other arts-based premises will benefit from the 2% cap to business rates that were also announced at the autumn statement.

Equality

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the (a) total departmental expenditure, (b) number and (c) cost of people employed for the purpose of promoting equality and diversity was for each of the last five years.

Helen Grant: DCMS considers equality and the need to draw the best from a diverse workforce in its day to day activity. While there are individuals who have particular responsibility for promoting equality and diversity, this is in addition to their other duties. The Department is unable to break down figures to show how much was spent on the equality and diversity aspect of their role. On 1 April 2013, the Government Equalities Office (GEO) joined DCMS under a Machinery of Government transfer. The Government Equalities Office works to take action on the Government's commitment to remove barriers to equality and help to build a fairer society, leading on issues relating to women, sexual orientation and transgender equalities. In this broader sense the whole of the staff of GEO and its programme spend is devoted to promoting equality and diversity.

Pay

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) her Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to her.

Helen Grant: The number of civil servants on each pay grade in DCMS is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Grade Number of Full time equivalents 
			 SCS 31.96 
			 AU 18.00 
			 A 102.20 
			 B 132.60 
			 C 52.77 
			 D 36.89 
			 Total 374.42 
		
	
	We do not hold central records for our agency and public bodies.

Property

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) her Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to her.

Helen Grant: The Electronic Property Information Mapping Service (e-PIMS™) is the central database of Government Central Civil Estate properties and land.
	A subset of data from e-PIMS™ has been published on a quarterly basis on:
	www.data.gov.uk
	This data is in the public domain and includes details of property location, tenure, and other key attributes. It is a sample of all departmental holdings.
	Information concerning the value of property owned by Government Departments is commercially sensitive and any disclosure would adversely affect HMG's future ability to negotiate efficiencies and achieve value for money to the taxpayer. The global running cost figure for the central civil estate is c£3 billion per annum.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which paid public appointment contracts she has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men.

Helen Grant: The Government publishes details of diversity in public appointments across Departments. The latest list can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/262039/diversity-pub-appointments-_1-April-30-Sept-2013.csv/preview
	Figures for 1 October 2013 to 31 March 2014 will be published later this year.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by her Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women.

Helen Grant: Figures in relation to diversity for public appointments within the jurisdiction of the Commission for Public Appointments for 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 can be found on the website at:
	http://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/
	Copies are also available in the Library of the House.

Staff

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of staff of (a) her Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to her work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.

Helen Grant: DCMS does not have any employees who are based outside of London.
	We do not hold central records for our agency and public bodies.

Tickets

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions (a) she, (b) Ministers in her Department and (c) officials in her Department have had with the Department's directors on secondary ticketing.

Helen Grant: Ministers and officials in DCMS have not had any discussions with our non-executive directors on secondary ticketing.

Tourism: Rural Areas

Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to promote rural tourism in the UK.

Helen Grant: The Government recognises tourism as a major driver of economic growth in rural areas. The Rural Economy Growth Review launched a £25 million package to develop and promote rural tourism in England and contribute to the industry target of 5% year-on-year growth in the value of the tourism sector.

World War I: Anniversaries

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to visit First World War battlefields outside Europe during the centenary commemorations.

Helen Grant: The Gallipoli Campaign is one of the key commemorative events in our national programme. The Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), is attending the Gallipoli commemorations this April to help inform our planning for the centenary commemoration in 2015. We are of course working closely with the Australian and New Zealand Government on the Gallipoli commemorations.

World War I: Anniversaries

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans her Department has for commemoration of the Battle of the Somme in 2016.

Helen Grant: The Battle of the Somme is one of the key commemorative events in our national programme. The centenary commemorative event will be held at the Thiepval Memorial. Planning for the event is in the early stages and further details will be announced in due course.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Bank Services

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with what bank his Department's bank overdraft is held; and what fees and charges were payable on the core Department's bank overdraft in the last financial year.

Brandon Lewis: My Department banks with the Government Banking Service. Balances held in its accounts are held at the Bank of England.
	I refer the hon. Member to my answer to him of 28 January 2014, Official Report, column 489W.

Business Improvement Districts: Birmingham

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the report on the Business Improvement District for Sparkbrook and Springfield will be published; and when a decision on this matter will be reached.

Brandon Lewis: An appeal against the establishment of the Sparkbrook and Springfield Business Improvement District has been made to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles). Evidence and representations are being reviewed and a decision will be made shortly.

Council Tax

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 601W, on council tax, which local authorities have increased council tax and by what percentage amount in 2013-14.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 11 February 2014
	Information on council tax levels set by local authorities in 2013-14 is published by my Department on the gov.uk website and can be accessed at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-levels-set-by-local-authorities-in-england-2013-to-2014
	Table 9 provides information on average council tax levels and percentage changes.

Criminal Investigation

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which organisation his Department and its subsidiary bodies use to tackle internal instances of crime, including corruption and fraud; and whether he has designated this organisation or any individual within it to grant authorisation for carrying out directed surveillance under section 28 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

Brandon Lewis: DCLG looks to the Cross Departmental Internal Audit Service (part of which is currently hosted by DCLG) to provide it with Internal Audit Services, including the investigation of reported frauds. No organisation or individual has been granted authorisation to carry out directed surveillance under Section 28 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

E-mail

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what his Department’s policy is on the timelines for closing ministerial e-mail accounts once a Minister has left the Department;
	(2)  what account his Department’s policy on the retention of ministerial e-emails that are relevant to the subject of requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 takes of section 12.3c of the Lord Chancellor’s code of practice on the management of records issued under section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000;
	(3)  whether the e-mail accounts of each Minister who has left his Department since May 2010 (a) have been deleted, (b) remain available to the Department and (c) have been archived;
	(4)  what the approval process is for the archiving or deletion of ministerial e-mail accounts.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 10 February 2014
	In line with its departmental record retention and disposal policy, the Department for Communities and Local Government maintains ministerial e-mail accounts for a period of 120 days once a Minister has left the Department.
	Prior to the deletion of the account, a copy of the electronic calendar is passed to the departmental records officer for preservation. These calendars are currently retained for a period of seven years from the date of the Minister’s departure before being destroyed.
	Under Section 12.3c of the Lord Chancellor’s code of practice on the management of records issued under section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000,
	“Records should not be kept after they have ceased to be of use to the authority”
	unless they are:
	(a) “the subject of litigation or a request for information”
	Where this is the case, DCLG records are retained until the litigation or request for information is completed, after which they are subject to the records disposition procedures pertinent to them;
	(b) “have long-term value for historical or other research”
	E-mail accounts belonging to Ministers (other than the Prime Minister) are not required for historical/research reasons as indicated by the National Archives under their record selection policies. Individual ministerial e-mails may be retained as part of the record of specific policies as necessary; or
	(c) “contain or relate to information recently released in response to a request under the Act”
	Where information is known to be the subject of a request for information, this is retained to allow for the appeal process to be exhausted if invoked. After that time, information may be destroyed or retained as a record if required for business purposes.
	Currently there are three ministerial e-mail accounts still in existence belonging to Ministers who had left the Department since May 2010. These Ministers left in October 2013 and therefore their accounts are due to be deleted (with their electronic calendars passed to the departmental records officer) in February 2014 in line with the departmental record retention and disposal policy. All other ex-ministerial accounts have been deleted.
	The Department currently has seven electronic calendars in archive which relate to ex-ministerial accounts. These are due to be destroyed over the period 2019-20 in line with our departmental record retention and disposal policy.
	The approval process for archiving or deleting the ministerial e-mail accounts is governed by our departmental record retention and disposal policy.
	This general policy was in place under the last Administration, and the same approach was applied to outgoing Ministers from the Labour Government in May 2010.

Emergency Services

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to promote the sharing of services between fire brigades and (a) police forces and (b) other local authorities.

Brandon Lewis: The Government supports collaboration to drive efficiencies and a better, more joined up service to communities. We are committed to helping the sector to do this. My Department is making available to fire and rescue authorities £75 million of transformation funding for 2015-16 to drive transformational reform and deliver further efficiencies, including encouraging greater collaboration between fire, police and other authorities. A six week technical consultation on the bidding process closed on 14 January 2014 and we expect the actual bidding process to commence shortly.

Equality

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) total departmental expenditure, (b) number and (c) cost of people employed for the purpose of promoting equality and diversity was for each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: In 2008-09, DCLG had a defined budget of £69,000 and £72,000 for 2009-10 and 2010-11 for promoting equality and diversity. This budget no longer exists.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government considers equality issues in exercising its functions, to comply with legislation and to ensure it understands how its activities affect specific groups in society. All staff working on policies and programmes therefore contribute to addressing equality and diversity issues through their day to day jobs and hence the overall total and total staff costs are not available centrally.

Fires: Death

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the full actuarial cost of fire deaths was in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many fire deaths there were in each of the last 10 years.

Brandon Lewis: The Department has not calculated costs of fire fatalities.
	The numbers of fire fatalities in England for each of the last 10 years are shown in the following table. This shows a sustained downward trend. In 2012-13 the number of fire fatalities was half that of the early 1990s. This is largely due to an increasing proportion of households owning a working smoke alarm.
	
		
			 Fire fatalities, England, 2003-04 to 2012-13 
			  Fire fatalities 
			 2003-04 454. 
			 2004-05 371 
			 2005-06 386 
			 2006-07 364 
			 2007-08 358 
			 2008-09 323 
			 2009-10 336 
			 2010-11 331 
			 2011-12 314 
			 2012-13 286 
			 Source: Fire Statistics Monitor, Department for Communities and Local Government: www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-statistics-monitor-april-to-september-2013 
		
	
	My Department's Fire Kills campaign directly seeks to raise and maintain public awareness of the importance of having a working smoke alarm.

First Time Buyers

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of steps taken by the Government to assist first-time home buyers.

Kris Hopkins: This Government is committed to supporting people's aspirations to own their own home.
	Since spring 2010, the Government has helped, or is now helping over 106,000 households to buy or reserve a property through a range of Government-backed home ownership schemes. A large portion of these are first-time buyers. For example, by December 2013, around 90% of sales through the Help to Buy: equity loan scheme were to first-time buyers. Moreover, by tackling the budget deficit inherited by the previous Administration, this Government is helping first time buyers by enabling them to access low interest rates, making mortgages more accessible and affordable than would otherwise be the case.
	In addition, the number of mortgages lent to first-time buyers in November 2013 was 27,000-over 60% higher than May 2010 (16,300). The value of residential loans advanced to first time buyers is at its highest rate since 2007 (Bank of England, “Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Statistics”, 10 December 2013).

Floods

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of local authority (a) chief executives and (b) leaders in providing public reassurance and advice through local media during a flooding emergency.

Brandon Lewis: I have made no assessment of local authority leaders' or chief executives, effectiveness. But I have been having discussions in the last few weeks with leaders of the all the local authorities affected by the 5 and 6 December severe weather and east coast tidal surge, and I and other Ministers are meeting councillors, local authority staff that are working with the emergency services, Environment Agency and a range of other agencies in many areas still experiencing flooding.
	I have been impressed with the work that is being done by local authorities to help those communities that are suffering and we have pledged to give them all the support they need.
	A meeting with the Chairman of the Local Government Association is being convened shortly to discuss with leaders of some of the local authorities that suffered from the recent severe weather what has been learnt about effective local government response and how the lessons can be shared across all councils.

Housing: Older People

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance he has given to (a) the Homes and Communities Agency and (b) other Government Departments on consideration of demand for retirement housing when disposing of public land assets.

Kris Hopkins: This Department has not issued guidance to either the Homes and Communities Agency or any other Government Department about the types of housing that should built when selling public land. The future use of public land sold by Government is determined by the local planning authority, who decide what type of housing the local area needs.
	In August 2013, my Department published draft planning practice guidance on providing housing for older people and planning for an ageing population.

Housing: Older People

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to encourage the delivery of retirement housing for home-owners;
	(2)  if he will develop a national strategy for the delivery of retirement housing.

Kris Hopkins: ‘Laying the foundations: a housing strategy for England (2011)’, set out the Government's new deal for older people's housing, with a better offer to support older people to live independently for longer.
	The Government is investing £11.5 billion of capital in getting Britain building in the four years to 2015 supported by further private investment. The National Planning Policy Framework clearly requires local planning authorities to assess and then plan for the needs of older people, and introduced a powerful presumption in favour of sustainable development.
	The Government is also making available up to £315 million for the development of specialist housing for older people and disabled adults in addition to private investment. Phase 1 will deliver more than 3,000 homes across the country, and phase 2 will focus on stimulating the private market for developing housing to buy.

Planning Permission: Crystal Palace

Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions he, Ministers or officials of his Department have had with the Mayor of London and officials or members of the Greater London Authority and the London Borough of Bromley on development of the upper site at Crystal Palace; and what the outcome of those discussions was.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Croydon North (Mr Reed), on 11 November 2013, Official Report, column 482W. I also refer the hon. Member to the speech I gave on 29 October 2013, Official Report, columns 898-900.
	Officials from my Department have met with representatives from the Greater London Authority and the London borough of Bromley on several occasions to discuss the initial proposals to recreate the Crystal Palace. These discussions have included the consideration of the existing legislation governing the Crystal Palace Park and what type of legislative options might be required to enable the rebuilding of the Crystal Palace.
	No decisions have been made at this stage. My Department will remain engaged and further examine these issues over the coming months, once the ZhongRong Group have developed more detailed plans and consulted the public.

Right to Buy Scheme

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effect of preserved right-to-buy sales on affordable housing policy;
	(2)  how many replacement homes (a) are under construction or (b) have completed as a result of preserved right-to-buy sales subsequent to the enhanced discount introduced on 2 April 2012, by local authority;
	(3)  what plans he has to replace housing stock as a result of preserved right-to-buy sales.

Kris Hopkins: This Government wants to ensure that as many social tenants as possible are helped to achieve their home ownership aspirations. The preserved right-to-buy ensures that social tenants who were living in their homes at the time of a stock transfer maintain their important right to home ownership. Figures for preserved right-to-buy sales are collected by the Department on an annual basis. In the first year of the reinvigorated scheme (2012-13), there were 2,458 preserved right-to-buy sales. Sales data for previous years (table 648) can be found here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-social-housing-sales
	It is the Department's expectation that receipts from preserved right-to-buy sales should be used to help fund new homes for affordable rent, and we would encourage housing associations to work in partnership with local authorities.

Right to Buy Scheme

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many replacement homes (a) are under construction or (b) have completed as a result of all right-to-buy sales subsequent to the enhanced discount introduced on 2 April 2012, by local authority.

Kris Hopkins: There were 1,662 homes started on site or acquired as a result of the right-to-buy scheme in England from April 2012 until September 2013. Figures are available at local authority level for the number of starts on site and acquisitions, and can be found at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/259931/LT693.xls
	There were 142 homes completed with local authority recycled right-to-buy receipts in England in 2012-13. Figures for the number of affordable homes completed with local authority recycled right-to-buy receipts by local authority in 2012-13 can be found in sheet I, columns BN and BO at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269847/lahs-data-returns-for-2012-13.xls
	The Department therefore does not collect data on replacement homes as a result of the preserved right-to-buy scheme.
	There will invariably be a certain time lag between the right-to-buy sale and the construction of the new build home, but the replacement timetable is in control of the local authority. If a council were to fail to spend the receipts within three years, it would be required to return the unspent money to government with interest. This provides a strong financial incentive for any slow-coach councils to use this new funding and get on with building more homes for local people.

Right to Buy Scheme

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what total amount of discount has been applied as part of the preserved right-to-buy sales in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12 and (d) 2012-13;
	(2)  what the total amount of discount is that has been applied as part of all right-to-buy sales in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12 and (d) 2012-13.

Kris Hopkins: The total amount of discount applied by local authorities in England as part of the right-to-buy scheme, and by private registered providers (housing associations) as part of the preserved right-to-buy scheme is as follows:
	
		
			 £000 
			  Right-to-buy discount Preserved right-to-buy discount 
			 2009-10 63,130 22,520 
			 2010-11 73,115 26,890 
			 2011-12 69,730 31,420 
			 2012-13 307,687 123,195 
			 Notes: 1. Figures on the total discount through right-to-buy in 2009-10 and 2010-11 have been estimated using the average discount per dwelling and the number of local authority dwellings sold, which can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/249039/Table_682.xls 2. Figures for the total discount through right-to-buy in 2011-12 can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/274824/lahs-data-returns-for-2011-12_REVISED.xls 3. Figures for the total discount through right-to-buy in 2012-13 can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269847/lahs-data-returns-for-2012-13.xls 4. Figures on the total discount through preserved right-to-buy have been estimated using the average discount per dwelling and the number of private registered provider dwellings sold, which can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/249039/Table_682.xls 
		
	
	This Government wants many more people to achieve the dream of home ownership. In the 1980s, the right-to-buy helped millions of people living in council housing achieve their aspiration of owning their home.
	The right-to-buy gives something back to families who worked hard, paid their rent and played by the rules. It allows them to do up their home, change their front door and improve their garden, without getting permission from the council.
	It gives people a sense of pride and ownership not just in their home, but in their street and neighbourhood, helping to build strong families and stable mixed communities. But the Labour Government made a succession of cuts to the right-to-buy, and this vital rung on the property ladder was all but removed. This Government is now putting it back by dramatically increasing the discount rates and eligibility, so that we support the dreams of those council tenants who to want to own the roof over their head.
	The reinvigorated right-to-buy scheme will see any additional homes bought under the scheme leading directly to the provision of new affordable homes for rent, increasing the overall size of the housing stock and supporting construction and new house building.

Right to Buy Scheme

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties have been sold under the preserved Right-to-Buy scheme in each of the last five years; what the average discount given to house buyers was under the scheme in those years; and if he will list this information by local authority area.

Kris Hopkins: Figures are not available at local authority area level for the number of dwellings sold by private registered providers (housing associations) and average discount under the preserved right to buy scheme. The national figures are as follows:
	
		
			  Number of dwellings Average discount per dwelling (£) 
			 2008-09 996 26,940 
			 2009-10 804 28,010 
			 2010-11 956 28,130 
			 2011-12 1,106 28,410 
			 2012-13 2,458 50,120 
			 Note: Figures can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/249039/Table_682.xls

Right to Buy Scheme

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties were sold under the Right to Buy scheme in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12 and (d) 2012-13; and what the average discount given to house buyers was under that scheme in those years in each local authority area.

Kris Hopkins: Figures are available at local authority level for the annual number of dwellings sold under the right to buy scheme, and can be found at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/249042/Table_685.xls
	Figures for the average discount given under the right to buy scheme by local authorities are available at a national level at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/249039/Table_682.xls
	Local authority level data are available for total discount given under the right to buy scheme and number of sales. For 2012-13 total discount can be found in sheet B, column J, and number of dwellings sold in column H of the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269847/lahs-data-returns-for-2012-13.xls
	For 2011-12 total discount can be found in sheet B, column H, and number of dwellings sold in column F of the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/274824/lahs-data-returns-for-2011-12_REVISED.xls
	These data are not available prior to 2011-12 at local authority level.
	This Government wants many more people to achieve the dream of home ownership. In the 1980s, the right to buy helped millions of people living in council housing achieve their aspiration of owning their home.
	The right to buy gives something back to families who worked hard, paid their rent and played by the rules. It allows them to do up their home, change their front door and improve their garden, without getting permission from the council.
	It gives people a sense of pride and ownership not just in their home, but in their street and neighbourhood, helping to build strong families and stable mixed communities. But the Labour Government made a succession of cuts to the right to buy, and this vital rung on the property ladder was all but removed. This Government is putting it back by dramatically increasing the discount rates and eligibility, so that we support the dreams of those council tenants who want to own the roof over their head. The reinvigorated right to buy scheme will see any additional homes bought under the scheme leading directly to the provision of new affordable homes for rent, increasing the overall size of the housing stock and supporting construction and new house building.

Travellers: Staffordshire

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to gain a more accurate representation of Gypsy and Traveller numbers in South Staffordshire constituency; and what steps he is taking to ensure that the duty of pitch provision is more evenly spread across all nearby local authority areas.

Brandon Lewis: The Government's planning policy for travellers is set out in “Planning policy for traveller sites” published in March 2012.
	We are currently reviewing the associated practice guidance on Traveller site provision.
	The Localism Act 2011 introduced a duty to co-operate, and we would encourage local authorities to work constructively with their neighbours on all aspects of planning.
	I also refer my hon. Friend to my written ministerial statement of 17 January 2014, Official Report, column 34WS, which outlines our intention to consider the case for changes to the planning definition of Travellers.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Badger Cull

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the findings of the badger cull pilots.

George Eustice: We are waiting for the Independent Expert Panel to report their findings. We will consider all the information these pilots have generated and decide on next steps in due course.
	It is clear that should additional areas be culled this year, preparatory work needs to be started now. Natural England has published information and guidance on an Expression of Interest process as a first step in the preparations needed.

Flood Protection Schemes

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many flood protection schemes are going ahead as a result of partnership funding.

Dan Rogerson: Of the 55 major schemes starting construction in 2014-15, 32 are going ahead as a result of partnership funding contributions.

Rabies

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the adequacy of existing arrangements to protect against rabies.

George Eustice: A comprehensive risk assessment carried out in 2011 prior to harmonisation with the EU Pet Travel Scheme concluded that the risk of a pet with rabies coming into the UK would remain very low and the risk of rabies being passed from a pet to a person would be lower still. We maintain a robust checking regime and constantly monitor the prevalence of rabies, as well as other high impact diseases, around the world.

Sea Angling

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the economic value of sea angling.

George Eustice: The most recent assessment of the economic value of sea angling in England was published last November in the Sea Angling 2012. This found that in 2012 English anglers spent £831 million on the sport. When indirect and induced effects are accounted for, this could support a total of £2.1 billion of spending. The report is available on the Marine Management Organisation website.

Illegal Wildlife Trade

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his aims are for the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade.

George Eustice: Today's conference (13 February 2014) aims to secure the high-level political commitment needed to tackle successfully the scourge of the illegal wildlife trade. It will address three interlinked issues: improving law enforcement; reducing demand; and supporting sustainable livelihoods for affected communities. The Government has convened this conference, but it is for all the Governments represented to demonstrate collective will by agreeing ambitious actions that will make a real difference on the ground.

British Produce

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress he is making in opening new markets to imports of British produce.

George Eustice: In 2013 we opened 112 markets for animals and animal products including beef to Singapore; poultry, beef and lamb to Russia; pork, lamb and beef to the Dominican Republic; hatching eggs/day old chicks to Thailand. We also extended our access to Chinese markets for porcine products. This contributed to growth in exports of such products to non-EU markets of approximately £200 million.

Anaerobic Digestion

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance his Department issues to the Planning Inspectorate on what it should accept as the minimum proximity between anaerobic digester plant developments and non-agricultural residential properties.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA has not issued any guidance to the Planning Inspectorate on the proximity between anaerobic digester plant developments and non-agricultural residential properties.
	However, the Environment Agency has in place a position statement for biowaste treatment plants handling more than 500 tonnes of waste that are located within 250 metres of a dwelling or workplace. The position statement requires a site-specific bio-aerosol risk assessment to be carried out as part of the application for an environmental permit. Subject to this assessment, the Environment Agency may grant a permit imposing conditions to prevent the emission of bio-aerosols, in order to prevent harm to human health and the environment.

Anaerobic Digestion

Phillip Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to encourage an increase in on-farm anaerobic digestion.

Dan Rogerson: Last year DEFRA allocated £3 million from our Anaerobic Digestion Loan Fund to small-scale on-farm anaerobic digestion projects. As a first stage, the Waste and Resources Action Programme is providing grants to help farmers develop business cases. This will help farmers decide if anaerobic digestion is right for their farms. If so, the farm business can apply to the Waste and Resources Action Programme for a loan of up to £400,000.

Floods

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent steps he has taken to help local resilience forums (a) improve door knocking in times of flood threat, (b) enhance flood warnings, (c) provide information and (d) assess welfare needs of those who have been affected by flooding.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency works closely with local resilience forums (LRFs) to prepare for flooding and prepare multi-agency flood plans. The Environment Agency also works with LRFs to help communities prepare in advance of flooding, by developing volunteer flood warden and community self-help schemes.
	In some situations LRFs support Environment Agency flood warnings with door-knocking. Environment Agency staff aim to visit before flooding, working alongside LRFs to provide advice and information.
	The Environment Agency shares information with LRFs to enable them to plan for floods and assist communities. This includes flood risk maps, knowledge of anticipated flood impacts, live river and sea levels data and flood forecasts.

Floods: Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what flood prevention measures have been undertaken in Shrewsbury in the last three years; and how many staff of (a) his Department and (b) the Environment Agency have been so employed.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency constructed the £2.4 million Coleham Head flood risk management scheme in 2010, which reduces flood risk for 80 properties. Over the last three years this and the Environment Agency's Frankwell flood defence have been operational 11 times, protecting 150 properties.
	The flood risk in Shrewsbury is managed by an integrated team of 72 that covers Shropshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. It is therefore not easy to give an accurate number for Shrewsbury alone.
	There are no DEFRA staff working on flood risk management who work specifically on flood prevention measures in Shrewsbury.

Floods: West Midlands

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent on flood defences and flood prevention measures in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Shrewsbury in each of the last three years; and if he will provide additional funding to dredge the River Severn at Shrewsbury.

Dan Rogerson: £52.5 million has been spent in the West Midlands region over the last three years.
	£2.8 million has been spent in Shrewsbury over the last three years. This includes £2.4 million on the Coleham Head flood risk management scheme in 2010, £62,000 on property level protection schemes and £341,000 on maintenance (£95,000 in 2011-12; £101,000 in 2012-13; £145,000 in 2013-14).
	Funding is made available to reduce the risks of flooding rather than for any particular means of achieving that objective, such as dredging.

Fracking: Fylde

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what on-the-ground inspections have been planned by the Environment Agency for the two new proposed shale gas drilling sites in Fylde.

Dan Rogerson: If the sites identified by Cuadrilla at Little Plumpton and Roseacre are granted planning permission along with the required permits from the Environment Agency, the Agency would inspect the sites during the preparatory works and the operational life of the sites, as well as at the end of operations. This would be done at a frequency appropriate to the risks that the sites present to the environment.
	Once operational work has begun, the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency will conduct joint inspections of the key operations at the sites. These meetings and visits may include other licensing or statutory bodies as appropriate.

Insecticides: Inland Waterways

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what investigation his Department has carried out on the effects of neonicotinoids on waterways; and what monitoring the Government undertakes on the effects of the neonicotinoids moratorium on the aquatic environment.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency employs general surveillance monitoring at a range of sites which can detect the following neonicotinoids:
	imidacloprid;
	clothianidin;
	thiacloprid;
	acetamiprid; and
	thiamethoxam.
	A review of all monitoring data collected since 2009 (from a total of 3,400 surface and groundwater sites) was conducted in May 2013. There were no surface water detections for any of these neonicotinoids except thiamethoxam (detected in 15 samples at 12 sites).
	Concentrations of thiamethoxam detected in surface water are below levels that are reported to have an effect on aquatic life. The Environment Agency is continuing to collect surveillance data for the aquatic environment and a future review of these data can be undertaken to check for the presence or absence of neonicotionoids.

Members: Correspondence

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he will reply substantively to the letter from the hon. Member for Mid Worcestershire of 25 July 2013, acknowledged by his Department on 2 October 2013, about Hartlebury Parish Council and the proposed main burn incinerator.

Dan Rogerson: My ministerial colleague, Lord de Mauley, replied to the hon. Member on 10 February.

Pay

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Dan Rogerson: The following table shows the number of civil servants (headcount) employed by core DEFRA and its five Executive Agencies in each grade on 31 January 2014.
	
		
			  Core DEFRA Agencies 
			 Apprentice 0 16 
			 AA 12 142 
			 AO 154 1,999 
			 EO 334 1,516 
			 HEO 595 977 
			 SEO 356 647 
			 Grade 7 426 507 
			 Grade 6 96 190 
			 SCS Pay Band 1 77 28 
			 SCS Pay Band 2 16 5 
			 SCS Pay Band 3 4 1 
			 Permanent Secretary 1 0 
			 Total 2,071 6,028 
		
	
	DEFRA's public bodies do not employ civil servants.

Rural Areas: Economic Growth

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to promote economic growth in rural areas.

Dan Rogerson: Stimulating economic growth is the top priority for this Government. We want to see rural areas contributing to and benefitting from that growth. We are working to improve superfast broadband and mobile infrastructure in rural communities; piloting Rural Growth Networks to test different ways of helping businesses stimulate economic growth in rural areas; and boosting key sectors such as tourism. We are also increasing export potential and unblocking barriers to growth by removing red tape.

Winter Fuel Payments

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will bring forward winter fuel payments in order to protect pensioners from the price rise associated with off-grid energy at the onset of winter.

Steve Webb: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
	The Government is currently investigating with the energy industry and MPs via the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Off-Gas Grid the feasibility of bringing forward the winter fuel payment date.

EDUCATION

Academies: Chelmsford

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the (a) take-up of places in and (b) performance of academies in the Chelmsford constituency.

Edward Timpson: There are 12 open academies in the Chelmsford constituency comprising five primary converter academies, five secondary converter academies and two special academies. Information on the capacity of schools is collected via the school capacity survey and the number of pupils on roll is collected via the school census. The latest data is available at school level in the publication ‘School capacity: academic year 2012 to 2013’.1
	Data on the performance of academies in Chelmsford is available via the school performance tables.2
	1https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-capacity-academic-year-2012-to-2013
	2 http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance

Adoption

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his policy is on increasing the number of children adopted in England.

Edward Timpson: We are reforming the adoption system so that, where adoption is in the best interests of the child, children can be placed quickly in a stable and loving home.
	Our reforms1 are designed to encourage more people to adopt and to reduce the time it takes for children to be placed with a loving family. This includes addressing a national shortage of adopters by recruiting and assessing adopters more quickly, working with local authorities to eradicate unnecessary delay highlighted by scorecard data, and improving support services to adoptive families.
	1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/an-action-plan-for-adoption-tackling-delay

Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of the office space owned or leased by his Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such unused office space; and if he will place in the Library a copy of his most recent departmental real estate valuation.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education assesses its properties as either being required to deliver departmental functions (core estate) or surplus to this requirement (non-core). The current classification system does not relate to the frequency of use and as a consequence we do not hold this information.
	The Department does not hold the value of properties that it occupies under leasehold or Memorandum of Terms of Occupation agreements. Due to commercial sensitivity and disposal plans, we are unable to release the values of freehold properties.
	Since May 2010 the Department has reduced the size of its estate from 30 properties, at a cost of c. £51 million per annum, to 12 properties costing c. £34 million per annum. This is a saving of c. £17 million per annum. The Department’s current estate strategy includes further consolidation, reducing the size of the estate to six properties. During 2014, the Department will vacate Trust Court, Histon, realise additional sublet income to offset the rental costs of Earlsdon Park, and transfer surplus space in Piccadilly Gate, Manchester to another Government Department. These activities will achieve further savings to the Department of c. £600,000. The Department also plans to vacate Sanctuary Buildings at lease expiry in 2017.
	When we complete our reduction programme in 2017, the Department will not lease or own any non-core properties.

Buildings

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Elizabeth Truss: Details of the Department, agencies and public bodies’ properties owned and occupied can be found at the Government’s property and land asset database, available at:
	http://data.gov.uk/dataset/epims
	The Department for Education does not hold the value of properties which it occupies under leasehold or memorandum of terms of occupation agreements. Due to commercial sensitivity and disposal plans, we are unable to release the values of the freehold properties.
	Since May 2010, the Department has reduced the size of its estate from 30 properties, at a cost of circa £51 million per annum, to 11 properties costing circa £34 million per annum. This is a saving of circa £17 million per annum. The Department’s current estate strategy includes further consolidation, reducing the size of the estate to six properties. During 2014, the Department will vacate Trust Court, Histon, realise additional sub-let income to offset rental costs of Sanctuary Buildings and Earlsdon Park, as well as transfer surplus space in Piccadilly Gate, Manchester to another Government Department. These activities will achieve further savings to the Department of c. £2.5 million. The Department also plans to vacate Sanctuary Buildings at lease expiry in 2017.

Children: Internet

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what meetings he has had with individuals and representatives from organisations on online safety for children since 1 January 2013.

Edward Timpson: Responsibility for internet safety transferred to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in September 2013. However, the Department for Education maintains an interest in internet safety as I co-chair the UK Council for Child Internet Safety.
	The Council has met four times since 1 January 2013. In addition I met representatives of Apple on 12 February 2013. I have placed a copy of the letter following this meeting in the House Library.
	Officials met UK Council for Child Internet Safety industry members frequently during 2013 to take forward progress on parental internet controls and other measures to keep children safe online.

Community Schools

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment his Department has made of the capacity of existing multiple academy trusts to take on the remaining community schools in (a) England and (b) Yorkshire.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education’s assessment is that there is currently sufficient sponsor capacity to support underperforming maintained schools in England and in the Yorkshire and Humberside region.
	Maintained schools that are performing well can convert to become academies without the support of multi-academy trusts, although they may choose to join one.
	When a school is underperforming, particularly when it is judged by Ofsted to have serious weaknesses or require special measures, the Department will attempt to find a sponsor capable of providing the support needed for transformational improvement.

Education: Fraud

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on how many occasions whistleblowers have reported alleged financial impropriety to the Education Funding Agency in each year of its operation.

Edward Timpson: Whistleblowers have reported alleged financial impropriety to the EFA on 36 occasions since April 2012; 10 in 2012 to 2013 and 26 in 2013 to 2014. We looked at each of these cases closely. Of these, 13 have resulted in a formal investigation and six are currently being assessed. In the other 17 cases, there was no evidence of financial impropriety. Appropriate advice or follow-up work was undertaken to address any residual concerns.
	For comparison, 191 cases of fraud in local authority schools were reported to the Audit Commission last year.

Education: Fraud

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on how many occasions an Education Funding Agency (EFA) investigation into alleged financial impropriety has been undertaken in each year of the EFA's existence.

Edward Timpson: Since its inception on 2 April 2012, the Education Funding Agency (EFA) has commissioned a total of 13 investigations into alleged financial impropriety. In 2012-13, there were six investigations and, to date, in 2013-14 there have been seven investigations.
	Of these 13 cases, to date three have published investigation reports available online. Six cases are ongoing. In the remaining four cases, no financial impropriety was found. These four investigations were completed before new requirements came into force in the Academies Financial Handbook on 1 September 2013, stating that
	“the EFA will publish reports into investigations it undertakes”.

Equality

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the (a) total departmental expenditure, (b) number and (c) cost of people employed for the purpose of promoting equality and diversity was for each of the last five years.

Elizabeth Truss: During the last three years the Department for Education has spent the following amount fulfilling its legal duties as an employer on equality and diversity:
	
		
			 Financial year Expenditure (£) 
			 2009-10 327,280 
			 2010-11 152,605 
			 2011-12 164,981 
			 2012-13 184,953 
		
	
	The majority of this expenditure relates to providing reasonable adjustments for staff considered disabled under the Equality Act, for example, providing assistive software and related training for staff with a visual impairment and adjustment of office equipment or furniture for staff with limited mobility.
	During the last four years the numbers of officials who advise on equality and diversity matters and put in place reasonable adjustments are set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Financial year Staff numbers (full-time equivalents) 
			 2009-10 5 
			 2010-11 4.25 
			 2011-12 4.5. 
			 2012-13 3

Free Schools

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that free schools demonstrate compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty by publishing their equality information and objectives.

Edward Timpson: All academies, including free schools, are public authorities and must therefore publish relevant, proportionate information showing compliance with the equality duty, including their equality objectives. It is a condition of free school funding agreements that they fulfil their responsibilities under equality legislation. Where there is clear evidence that an academy is in breach of its obligations, the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), can take action, including the termination of the funding agreement. The Department for Education has issued advice to help all schools and academies on how the Equality Act affects them and how to fulfil their duties under the Act.1 Free schools are also made aware of their responsibilities as part of the pre-opening process.
	In addition, the Equality and Human Rights Commission is responsible for ensuring that public authorities comply with their specific duties to publish information and can take action through the courts to enforce these duties if necessary.
	1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools

Free Schools

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment his Department has made of the per pupil place value for money of free schools; and what effect the acquisition of sites (a) in London and (b) outside London has on that value for money.

Edward Timpson: The per pupil place value for money of each free school is assessed before the capital budget is approved.
	The Department for Education considers carefully how to maximise value for money on a project by project basis, including where there are a limited number of available sites, such as in some parts of London and other areas.

Free Schools

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupil vacancies there are in free schools in (a) London and (b) England; and what proportion of free schools opened in (i) 2012 and (ii) 2013 have vacancies.

Edward Timpson: Information on pupil numbers is collected in the School Census.
	The results of the spring 2014 collection, which will include up to date figures for free schools that opened in 2012 and 2013, are likely to be released in June 2014.

Free Schools

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether any consented free school applications have been withdrawn to date by (a) the proposers in the community or (b) the proposed provider.

Edward Timpson: At 10 February 2014, 18 approved free school applications had been cancelled or withdrawn during the pre-opening process.

Free Schools

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate his Department has made of the capital and revenue costs of free schools that (a) have been provided to date, (b) are to be provided in 2013-14 and (c) are projected to be provided in 2014-15.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education provides per-pupil revenue funding to free schools on the same basis as it does to all state schools. Free schools also receive funding during pre-opening intended to cover essential costs in developing the school, and post-opening funding to enable schools to cover their initial costs while they are growing their pupil numbers.
	As the recent NAO report, 'Establishing Free Schools (December 2013)' commented, free schools are being opened faster and with much lower capital costs than in previous programmes under the last Government.
	General Annual Grant (per pupil) allocations for free schools open to date have been published on the Department's website at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/executiveagencies/efa/b00213953/academies-funding-2013-14/academyallocations1314
	Details of the funding provided to free schools for pre and post-opening are in the Department's 'How to apply guide' at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-schools-in-2014-how-to-apply-mainstream-and-16-to-19-free-schools

Free Schools

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many additional school places have been created by the free schools that (a) have been provided to date and (b) are projected to be provided in 2014-15.

Edward Timpson: 82,000 places will be provided by the 174 free schools opened so far.
	This will increase by an estimated 62,000 once schools in the pipeline are open.

Free Schools

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department's estimate of December 2012 that the 79 open free schools would create at least 34,000 additional school places was accurate.

Edward Timpson: It was.

Free Schools

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the average class size is in free schools open to date.

Edward Timpson: Information on class sizes, including those in free schools, is provided in the publication “Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2013”, which can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2013

Free Schools

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of children with a statement of special educational needs being educated in free schools;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of children with (a) dyslexia and (b) dyspraxia being educated in free schools;
	(3)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of children being educated in free schools who qualify for free school meals.

Edward Timpson: Statistics on the number and percentage of pupils with a statement of special educational needs have been published in ‘Special educational needs in England: January 2013’1. Table 1d (national tables) shows these statistics by type of academy, including free schools.
	We do not collect information specifically on the number of pupils with dyslexia or dyspraxia. Where the pupil is identified as being at School Action Plus or has a statement of special educational needs, their primary need is collected. The category of primary need collected which covers dyslexia and dyspraxia is 'Specific Learning Difficulty'. Data for the number and percentage of pupils with this primary need, by type of academy, is shown in Table 10b of the publication.
	Statistics on the number and percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals have been published in ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2013’2. Table 3c (national tables) shows these statistics for free schools.
	1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational -needs-in-england-january-2013
	2 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-pupils-and -their-characteristics-january-2013

Free Schools

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of free schools which participate in the relevant local authority's admissions process to enable pupil place planning.

Edward Timpson: A number of the 174 open free schools chose to participate in the local system of co-ordinated admissions as soon as they opened despite all of them having the option of being outside of co-ordination in their first year. They will normally have their arrangements published in the local authority composite admissions prospectus for parents to see. All schools must participate in the local system of coordination after their first year of opening.
	Whether or not a school is within the system of co-ordinated admissions will not affect the ability of a local authority to plan its pupil places. As free school capacity figures are published, local authorities will be able to take them into account in planning places in their areas.

Free Schools

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what discussions he has had with HM Chief Inspector of Schools about the performance of free schools.

Edward Timpson: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), meets regularly with Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, to discuss a wide range of issues, including the performance of free schools.

Further Education: Finance

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 540W, on further education: finance, if he will report to the House the options his Department is considering by the end of the 2013-14 session of Parliament.

Matthew Hancock: As the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), told the Education Committee recently, he will consider options to mitigate the impact of the decision, but he has made no firm commitments.

GCSE: Chelmsford

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of pupils in Chelmsford constituency achieved no GCSEs at A* to C grade in 2012-13.

David Laws: The proportion of pupils in Chelmsford constituency achieving no GCSEs (including equivalencies) at grades A* to C was 4.8% in 2012/13. In 2009/10, 15.2% of pupils in Chelmsford constituency achieved no GCSEs (including equivalencies) at grades A* to C.

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 7 January 2014 on funding for 18 year-old full-time students in further education colleges; and for what reasons that letter was transferred to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and then transferred back to his Department.

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he received the letter from the hon. Member for Birkenhead of 18 December 2013 regarding Education Funding Agency guidelines for funding for 2014-15; and when he plans to reply to that letter.

Matthew Hancock: I replied to both letters on 10 February. The letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North (Mr Winnick) had not been transferred between Departments. My role as Minister for Skills and Enterprise meant that officials in both the Department for Education and the Department for Business, innovation and Skills had an interest in it.

Ofsted

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much funding his Department has provided to Ofsted in each year since 2010; and how much such funding he plans to provide in each year to 2015-16; and what proportion of such funding is used for inspection of (a) early years and childcare, (b) children and family services, (c) schools and (d) further education and skills.

David Laws: The Ofsted settlement was:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2010/11 186 
			 2011/12 176 
			 2012/13 168 
			 2013/14 170 
		
	
	The reduction shown above was in line with savings made to administration and programme budgets held centrally by the Department for Education and its arm’s length bodies, which allowed the Department to protect universal frontline services. The figure for 2013-14 includes an additional £10 million above the settlement towards the reform programme. Figures for 2014-15 are still being finalised.
	An estimated breakdown showing the proportion of the 2013-14 budget allocated against each area for inspection, and inspection support is shown as follows. Due to reorganisation within Ofsted, similar information for previous years is unavailable.
	
		
			 Ofsted 2013-14 Budget £ million 
			 Schools 59.9 
			 Further Education and Skills 15.1 
			 Early Childhood 25.5 
			 Social Care 10.4 
			 Front line support (includes support for inspection and registration of childminders). 38.4 
			 Other costs 20.2

Pay

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Elizabeth Truss: The information requested is available as part of published data which can be found at:
	www.data.gov.uk/dataset/workforce-management-information-department-for-education

Priority School Building Programme

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will place in the Library a copy of the initial advertisement which was published in the Official Journal of the European Union for the priority schools building programme.

David Laws: The Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) is being procured using both capital and private finance funding. Schools are grouped in “batches” of 4-12 schools, taking into consideration geography, commercial viability and condition need.
	Capital funded batches are being delivered using the Education Funding Agency's (EFA's) Contractors' Framework. The notice placed in the OJEU for the EFA Contractors Framework is available online at:
	http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:132773-2013:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0
	Private finance batches are advertised separately via the OJEU procedure. The OJEU notices for the Herts, Luton and Reading, North East and North West private finance batches are available online.
	Herts, Luton and Reading:
	http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:212992-2013:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0
	North East:
	http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:257729-2013:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0
	North West:
	http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:375997-2013:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0
	EFA has developed a financing model for the private finance batches based upon the establishment of a funding vehicle, known as the Aggregator. The OJEU for the Aggregator is available online at:
	http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:203423-2013:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0

Priority School Building Programme

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2013, Official Report, columns 722-3W, on priority schools building programme, what proportion of the total cost of the priority schools building programme will be funded by the (a) European Investment Bank and (b) European Investment Fund.

David Laws: The Department for Education is in discussions with the European Investment Bank. Procurement for the Aggregator Financing Vehicle, which will fund the privately financed priority schools building programme, is ongoing.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  which paid public appointment contracts he has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men;
	(2)  what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by his Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women.

Elizabeth Truss: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 607W.

Schools: Collective Worship

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what steps he has taken to ensure that schools provide a daily act of worship as required by the Education Act 1944;
	(2)  how many schools have opted out of the daily act of worship required by the Education Act 1944; and what criteria are used to grant that exemption.

Elizabeth Truss: Schools remain legally required to provide a daily act of worship for all registered pupils up to age 18. Some maintained schools and academies serve communities where the majority of pupils are of a religion other than Christian. In this situation, a maintained school can apply to the local Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) for a determination which allows the school to provide collective worship based on a non-Christian religion. We do not collect data on these applications or specify criteria that SACREs should use in making decisions. Academies in this situation would apply to the Secretary of State, and no applications have been received.

Schools: Construction

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what consideration his Department has given to allowing local authorities to open a new school to meet school place demand; and what representations he has received on this issue.

Edward Timpson: Local authorities are under a statutory duty to plan and secure sufficient schools places for their area. The Department recently announced an additional £2.35 billion in basic need funding, to support local authorities to create the additional places that will be needed by September 2017, in addition to the £5 billion already committed for the period 2011-15. Where, an authority identifies the need to establish a new school, legislation requires it first to seek proposals for an academy or free school.
	Where a suitable academy/free school proposal is not identified, the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), will give consent for the local authority to hold a competition, inviting bids for academy/free schools and maintained foundation and voluntary schools.
	Where an academy or free school proposal is not considered to be appropriate, local authorities can apply to the Secretary of State for Education for consent to publish proposals for replacement community schools, or brand new or replacement foundation or voluntary controlled maintained schools.
	Local authorities or other bodies (eg diocese) may also publish proposals for maintained schools at any time-without the consent of the Secretary of State-if seeking to establish:
	1. a new voluntary aided school;
	2. a new community or foundation primary school that is to replace a maintained infant and a maintained junior school;
	3. a new school resulting from the reorganisation of existing faith schools in an area, including an existing faith school losing or changing its religious designation;
	4. a new foundation or community school, where a suitable academy/free school proposal has not been identified and a competition has been held but did not identify a suitable provider.

Students: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many people in (a) Barrow and Furness constituency and (b) Cumbria will be affected by the reduction in funding for 18-year-olds announced by the Education Funding Agency.

Matthew Hancock: There are 123 students aged 18 living in Barrow and Furness constituency who are affected by the reduction in funding.
	There are 533 students aged 18 living in Cumbria who are affected by the reduction in funding.
	The data is based on the 2012/13 R14 individualised learner record. This is the latest available full year of data. The data refers to 18-year-old non-high needs students on full-time (540+ hours) programmes in post-16 institutions (including school sixth forms). This will not include any students receiving apprenticeship provision. Students who live in Barrow and Furness constituency or Cumbria (upper tier local authority) do not necessarily study there.

Students: Finance

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment his Department has made of the potential effects of the reduction in funding for full-time education places for 18-year-olds on students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Education has published an impact assessment, which can be found here:
	http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/i/impact%20assessment.pdf
	The impact assessment shows that there is no disproportionate impact on students from disadvantaged areas.

TREASURY

Corporation Tax

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2014, Official Report, columns 728-9W, on corporation tax, if he will provide figures for all penalties imposed that were (a) paid, (b) discharged on successful appeal and (c) remitted as uncollectable debt for each of the last four tax years; how much remained unpaid at the end of each such year; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: Over the period, fewer companies have been failing to file returns on time, and HMRC has improved the way they identify companies that are asked to file a return so that returns are not requested from companies that are not active.
	The information is provided in respect of years running from 1 April to 31 March. Amounts are rounded to the nearest £100,000.
	(a) The net amounts of penalties paid were as follows:
	
		
			 As at 1 April to 31 March each year £ 
			 2009-10 31,800,000 
			 2010-11 29,900,000 
			 2011-12 24,200,000 
			 2012-13 22,900,000 
		
	
	(b) Figures for penalties discharged on successful appeal are not centrally collated and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	(c) The amounts of penalties remitted as uncollectable debt were:
	
		
			 As at 1 April to 31 March each year £ 
			 2009-10 91,000,000 
			 2010-11 99,800,000 
			 2011-12 58,800,000 
			 2012-13 53,400,000 
		
	
	d. Information on the amounts of penalties unpaid at each year end is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Financial Services

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2014, Official Report, column 665W, on financial services, whether any business has yet been compensated; and what the timetable is for compensation to be paid.

Sajid Javid: The latest progress report published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) showed that 2,092 redress offers worth over £300 million have so far been accepted by businesses under the review process.
	The Financial Conduct Authority has not set a timetable for compensation to be paid. However, as set out in my answer of 30 January 2014, the FCA has published each individual bank's projections for when they expect to finish the redress scheme. The projections show that the banks expect to finish reviewing all cases by June 2014, with some banks likely to complete the scheme before this date.

Fracking

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of providing companies investing in the exploitation of onshore oil and gas and including shale gas an allowance equal to 75 per cent of their capital spend on such projects;
	(2)  how much the recently announced tax allowance for the exploitation of onshore oil and gas and shale gas will cost the public purse in tax year (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18; and how such figures have been calculated.

Nicky Morgan: The estimated cost of the onshore oil and gas allowance, which was certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility, can be found on page 79 of the autumn statement:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/263942/35062_Autumn_Statement_2013.pdf
	In 2015-16 the estimated cost is negligible, in 2016-17 it is £5 million and in 2017-18 it is £20 million.
	The assumptions and methodology underlying these costings can be found on page 46 of the policy costings document:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/263434/autumn_statement_2013 _policy_costings.pdf
	This document highlights that beyond the forecast period, additional production and profits which would arise from successful onshore developments would be expected to increase Exchequer yield.

Fracking

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2014, Official Report, column 237W, on fracking, 
	(1)  what his policy is on the use of non-public research in his Department's publications;
	(2)  if he will publish a summary of the evidential basis for the statement that independent analysis shows that this allowance makes the UK tax regime for shale gas the most competitive in Europe;
	(3)  whether his Department commissioned the report from Wood McKenzie; and whether it commissioned any other reports on this matter.

Nicky Morgan: The Government uses a wide variety of resources in the process of policy development.
	The Wood Mackenzie report cited in the autumn statement document was not commissioned by HM Treasury and the Department has not commissioned any other reports on this matter. While the report is currently only available to Wood Mackenzie subscribers, they have confirmed that anyone interested in seeing a copy should contact them directly.

Fracking

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2014, Official Report, column 237, on fracking, what other independent analysis concludes that this allowance makes the UK tax regime for shale gas the most competitive in Europe.

Nicky Morgan: The Wood Mackenzie review is the only one the Government is aware of that directly compares the new onshore allowance with other European tax regimes. However, there are several publically available sources that compare global oil and gas tax regimes which could be used to conduct this analysis independently.

Fracking

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 22 January 2014, Official Report, column 237W, on fracking, whether any other organisation has published a summary of Upstream Insight: UK advances shale gas fiscal incentives.

Nicky Morgan: The Government is not aware of any other organisation having published a summary of the Wood Mackenzie report on shale gas fiscal incentives, but Wood Mackenzie have confirmed that anyone interested in seeing a copy of the original report should contact them directly.

Fuels: Excise Duties

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with the European Commission on the rural fuel rebate scheme;
	(2)  what discussions he has held with members of the European Parliament representing (a) English, (b) Scottish, (c) Welsh, (d) Northern Ireland constituencies and (e) the European Committee of the Regions on the rural fuel rebate scheme.

Danny Alexander: At the end of January 2014, the Government submitted an application to the European Commission requesting an extension of the rural fuel rebate scheme to 17 areas on the UK mainland. The Chancellor routinely discusses a range of issues with members from the devolved Administrations, the European Commission and European Committees.

Individual Savings Accounts

Ann McKechin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate his Department has made of the value of ISA financial products held by people living in (a) Scotland and (b) the rest of the UK;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the value of ISA products issued by UK companies registered in (a) Scotland and (b) other parts of the UK in each of the last 10 years.

David Gauke: The numbers of individuals holding ISAs and the average values of funds held broken down geographically is provided in HMRC table 9.12:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/market-value-of-individual-savings-account-isa-funds-by-country-and-region
	As of 5 April 2011, the total value of ISAs held by individuals living in Scotland was £30.2 billion (total ISA holdings at that point in time are estimated to have been worth £375 billion).
	A breakdown of market values by Scottish-based ISA providers and rest of UK-based ISA providers can be found in this table:
	
		
			 (£ billion) 
			   Of which 
			  Total market values of funds in ISAs as of 5 April is held with Scottish ISA providers is held with rest of UK ISA providers 
			 2007 287.0 31.5 255.5 
			 2008 289.1 30.4 258.6 
			 2009 274.4 39.7 234.7 
			 2010 342.9 51.1 291.8 
			 2011 374.9 59.0 315.8 
			 2012 388.1 60.2 328.0 
		
	
	
		
			 2013 442.8 75.4 367.5 
			 Note: Comparable figures prior to 2007 are not available.

Mortgages: Chelmsford

Simon Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many house sales have been completed in Chelmsford constituency using the Help to Buy scheme since the introduction of that scheme.

Sajid Javid: On 2 January, the Prime Minister announced that in the first three months of the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme more than 6,000 people had put in offers on homes and applied for a Help to Buy mortgage. The mortgages, once approved, would represent nearly £1 billion of new lending to aspiring home owners who may have previously found the property market out of reach because of the size of the deposit required.
	The Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme continues to support responsible lending. On average households are looking to buy homes worth £160,000 which remains below the UK average house price of £247,000.
	Now the scheme is open, the Government is collecting data on the mortgages supported by the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme and will report in due course.

National Insurance Contributions

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people earning less than the annual equivalent of the primary threshold had a class 1 national insurance contribution liability in each of the last seven years.

David Gauke: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			 Tax year Primary threshold (annualised) (£) Number with earnings below annualised PT paying NIC (million) 
			 2009-101 5,715 3.31 
			 2010-111 5,715 3.39 
			 2011-122 7,225 3.73 
			 2012-133 7,605 3.48 
			 2013-143 7,755 3.53 
			 1 These estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes for the year concerned. 2 This estimate is based on a 1% sample of end of year tax returns in respect of the tax year ending 5 April 2012. 3 These estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes for the year 2011-12 projected using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility's December 2013 economic and fiscal outlook. 
		
	
	This information is not available for years prior to 2009-10.

Non-domestic Rates: Cash Dispensing

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the revenue accruing to the Exchequer through the application of business rates on ATMs in each year to 2018-19.

Brandon Lewis: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	This information is not held centrally.

Property

Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Nicky Morgan: The information is as follows:
	
		
			 Department/Agency Location Floor Space M2 Tenure status Owned/occupied 
			 HM Treasury1 1 Horse Guards Road, London 22,856 Freehold Owned and occupied 
			 HMT Rosebery Court, Norwich 407 Leased Occupied 
			 HMT Eastcheap Court, London 172 Leased Occupied 
			 HMT Melville Crescent, Edinburgh 28 Leased Occupied 
			 Debt Management Office Eastcheap Court, London 1,290 Leased Occupied 
			 Office for Budget Responsibility Victoria Street, London 247 Leased Occupied 
			 1 Core HM Treasury includes HM Treasury, Office of Tax Simplification, Infrastructure UK and Infrastructure Finance Unit Ltd, all of whom are based in the Treasury building at Horse Guards Road and included in the figures above, together with the Office for Budget Responsibility. 
		
	
	Information on the value of 1 Horse Guards Road appears in Treasury's Annual Report, copies of which have been deposited in the Library but it should be noted that this is a “book value” only and does not necessarily represent the final sale value of the property asset.
	Treasury does not hold information on the value of its leased properties.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  which paid public appointment contracts he has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men;
	(2)  what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by his Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women.

Nicky Morgan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 608W.

Taxation: Domicile

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many taxpayers were registered with HM Revenue and Customs as non-domiciled in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13;
	(2)  how many taxpayers registered with HM Revenue and Customs as non-domiciled were liable for the annual charge of £30,000 in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13;
	(3)  how many taxpayers registered with HM Revenue and Customs as non-domiciled will be liable for the increased annual charge of £50,000;
	(4)  if he will estimate how much revenue accrued to the Exchequer in 2012-13 from taxpayers registered as non-domiciled and liable for the annual charge of (a) £30,000 and (b) £50,000.

David Gauke: The information is as follows:
	1. Within the self-assessment system, there were 116,000 taxpayers recorded as non-domiciled for 2010-11 and 123,000 recorded as non-domiciled for 2011-12. Data for 2012-13 is not yet available.
	2. There were 5,600 Remittance Basis' Charge payers recorded in 2010-11 and 5,900 in 2011-12. Data for 2012-13 is not yet available.
	3. Data for 2012-13 is not yet available.
	4. Data for 2012-13 is not yet available.

VAT: Rescue Services

John Woodcock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with European Commission officials on VAT exemptions for mountain rescue teams.

David Gauke: Officials discuss a variety of VAT issues with the European Commission, as a matter of course for Treasury business.
	Additional funding is available for mountain rescue teams across the UK as announced in 2011 by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Welfare Tax Credits

John Woodcock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many new applications for child tax credits were made online in (a) England, (b) Cumbria and (c) Barrow and Furness constituency in the last 12 months; and what proportion this represents of total new claims in each case;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of new applications for working tax credits were made online in (a) England, (b) Cumbria and (c) Barrow and Furness constituency in the last 12 months.

Nicky Morgan: Under the system this Government inherited, applications for child tax credits and working tax credits can be made with a physical claim form, available from the tax credit helpline pack.
	Universal credit (UC) will gradually replace tax credits and the majority of people will make their claim for UC online.
	In addition, more than £200 million is being invested in the further digitisation of HMRC's services, making it easier and cheaper individuals and small businesses to deal with their tax affairs. For example, by April 2015 up to 2 million people will be able to take control of their tax affairs through their own online accounts. This builds on existing digital services, such as online tax calculator and phone app that allows individuals who pay tax through PAYE to see how much income tax and national insurance they can expect to pay, and an illustration of how their taxes contribute to public spending.

HEALTH

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2014, Official Report, column 227W, on abortion, 
	(1)  under what conditions and what other factors may influence gender being considered a relevant criterion for an abortion under the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended); and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what measures are in place to prevent a registered medical practitioner forming an opinion in good faith that the baby's gender would cause a greater risk to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman than if the pregnancy were terminated; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The chief medical officer has written to all doctors involved in abortion care on two occasions (23 February 2012 and 23 November 2013). Both letters stated that abortion on the grounds of gender alone is illegal.
	We consider that registered medical practitioners should be able to evidence how they have considered the particular facts of the case when forming their opinion, for example, by making notes in the patient record. They should be able to defend how they reached their decision if challenged.

Abortion

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2014, Official Report, columns 650-51W, on abortion, if he will publish the available data on how many women seeking an abortion met the authorising medical practitioner in each year since 1984.

Jane Ellison: In light of the answer of 30 January 2014, Official Report, columns 650-51W, it is not possible to specify accurately in how many cases an authorising doctor met or examined the woman seeking the abortion.

Ambulance Services: East of England

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many East of England Ambulance Trust vehicles were diverted to hospitals in North London between 1 January and 9 February 2014.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is not centrally held.

Barnet Hospital

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital Trust Accident and Emergency unit at Barnet Hospital was put on divert between 1 January and 9 February 2014.

Jane Ellison: In the period 1 January 2014 and 9 February 2014, Barnet Hospital and Chase Farm Hospital NHS Trust reported two accident and emergency diverts. These occurred on the dates 31 January 2014 and 2 February 2014.
	Source:
	NHS England

Barnet Hospital

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital Trust Maternity unit at Barnet Hospital was put on divert between 1 January and 9 February 2014.

Jane Ellison: The NHS Trust Development Authority has advised that there were no maternity unit diverts at Barnet hospital between 1 January 2014 and 9 February 2014.

Compulsorily Detained Mental Patients

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the reasons for changes in the number of people being detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 over the last five years; and what plans he has to reduce instances of mental health patients being detained in police custody rather than a healthcare setting.

Norman Lamb: There were 50,408 detentions under the Mental Health Act 1983 in national health service and independent hospitals during 2012-13. This number was 4% (1,777) greater than during the 2011-12 reporting period.
	However, in 2013 (for the first time in the last five years) the number of patients detained in hospital on 31 March significantly reduced-by 514 from 17,503 to 16,989 (3%).
	This suggests that although there were more detentions in the year 2012-13, they lasted for (on average) shorter periods.
	The Government's priority is to ensure that people in mental health crisis get speedy access to safe and compassionate care in the right environment.
	Our forthcoming mental health “Crisis Care Concordat” is a shared agreement produced by the Home Office and the Department of Health working in association with 20 national organisations including NHS England, the Association of Chief Police Officers, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
	The concordat will set out how police, health, social work and ambulance professionals should work together to help people going through a mental health crisis. It describes the principles and best practice that need to be in place to make sure that crisis services work together to give vulnerable people an appropriate response that provides safe care and support in the right setting.
	It follows the refreshed Mandate for NHS England (November 2013) which includes a new requirement on the part of the NHS that
	“every community has plans to ensure no one in mental health crisis will be turned away from health services”.
	The Department is also funding mental health “street triage” in nine police force areas. The forces involved are the Metropolitan Police Service, British Transport police, West Yorkshire police, West Midlands police, Thames Valley police, North Yorkshire police, Sussex police, Derbyshire constabulary, and Devon and Cornwall police. In these schemes mental health professionals are advising and supporting police officers directly when they deal with people who may have a mental health need, and are helping to make links with health services. The Department expects these schemes, and others now running besides these nine pilots, together with the concordat principles, will help reduce the unnecessary use of police cells for detentions under the Mental Health Act.

Dental Services

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the quantity and capacity of NHS dental provision is determined; and what requirement there is to plan provision based on population.

Daniel Poulter: NHS England is responsible for commissioning national health service dentistry and has a statutory duty to commission primary dental care services to reflect local needs. The latest access data shows that 1.8 million more patients have been able to see an NHS dentist since May 2010. In the 24 months ending 31 December 2013, 29.9 million patients were seen by an NHS dentist. How far demand for services is being met is measured regularly through the national GP Patient survey. The latest survey showed that nationally, 95% of patients who had tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the last 24 months were successful.
	A copy of ‘Summary of the Dental Results from the GP Patient Survey’ has been placed in the Library. The GP Patient Survey Dental Result, published in December 2013, is also available to download from NHS England's website at:
	www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/2013/12/12/2345gppsw1201314/

Department of Health

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to rename the Department of Health as the Department for Public Health.

Daniel Poulter: We have no plans to change the name of the Department.

Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines (a) his Department and (b) NHS England issue to medical staff on treating victims of domestic and sexual violence; and when those guidelines were last updated.

Jane Ellison: The Department and NHS England have not issued guidelines to health care staff. However, expectations for the provision of sexual assault public health services are set out in the “NHS public health functions agreements for 2013-14 and 2014-15”.
	A number of training tools and information exist on improving identification and the staff response to domestic and sexual violence. A handbook for front-line professionals published by the Department in 2009 “Improving Safety, Reducing Harm” is being updated and will be made available this spring.
	The National Institute for Health Care Excellence is expected to publish dedicated guidelines on domestic violence this spring which will cover identification and prevention, including tackling the factors that affect health and well-being.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people (a) entered and (b) completed drugs treatment in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and in each case how many people were treated for (i) opioid, (ii) cocaine, (iii) cannabis and (iv) amphetamine addiction.

Jane Ellison: There were 69,247 new presentations to adult treatment services in England in 2012-13. Of these, 25,065 were treated for opiates (only) as their primary substance; 17,881 for opiates and crack cocaine; 11,280 for cannabis; 7,372 for cocaine; 2,793 for crack (only) and 2,507 for amphetamines.
	Of the 29,025 individuals successfully completing treatment in 2012-13, 8,402 were treated for opiates (only) as their primary substance; 4,947 were treated for opiate and crack cocaine; 7,085 for cannabis, 4,605 for cocaine; 1,352 for crack (only) and 1,478 for amphetamines.
	The most recent available data is for the year 2012-13 available at:
	www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/annualdrugstatistics2012-13-statisticalreport.pdf

Health and Wellbeing Boards

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health and wellbeing boards include representatives of the criminal justice community.

Norman Lamb: Health and wellbeing boards have the flexibility to determine their own membership in a way that best meets the needs of their local communities.
	The Health and Social Care Act 2012 sets a core membership that boards must include:
	at least one councillor from the local authority;
	the director of adult social services;
	the director of children's services;
	the director of public health;
	a representative of the local Healthwatch; and
	a representative of each relevant local clinical commissioning group.
	Beyond this core membership, any other members considered appropriate by the local council may be included.
	There is no requirement therefore on boards to include membership from the criminal justice community, and the Department does not keep information on the membership of individual boards.
	However, membership is not the only way to engage with the work of boards. We expect boards will want to ensure that they have wider mechanisms in place to draw on the expertise of other groups when developing their Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies and the Joint Strategic Needs Assessments on which they are based.

Hospitals: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations were cancelled on or after the day of admission in each NHS trust in London in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is shown in the following table. Responsibility for publishing this information transferred to NHS England on 1 April 2013.
	
		
			 Cancelled operations for non-clinical reasons, NHS organisations in London, 2008-09 to 2012-13 
			   Number of last minute cancellations for non clinical reasons 
			 OrgID Name 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 5C5 Newham PCT — 0 2 — — 
			 R1H Barts Health NHS Trust — — — — 991 
			 RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 415 800 538 479 584 
			 RAN Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 167 143 195 163 120 
			 RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 108 100 231 154 72 
			 RAS The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 114 227 161 148 151 
			 RAX Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 280 181 141 129 137 
			 RC3 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 166 62 92 112 131 
			 RF4 Barking, Havering And Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 732 344 363 368 400 
			 RFW West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 62 73 43 45 77 
			 RG2 Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust 194 — — — — 
			 RG3 Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust 323 — — — — 
			 RGC Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 271 331 232 223 — 
		
	
	
		
			 RGZ Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust 185 — — — — 
			 RJ1 Guy's And St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 686 459 432 377 464 
			 RJ2 Lewisham And Greenwich NHS Trust 200 177 150 164 203 
			 RJ6 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 188 400 321 330 270 
			 RJ7 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 821 340 277 302 327 
			 RJZ King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 323 187 249 316 587 
			 RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 94 116 83 56 102 
			 RNH Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 76 59 73 85 — 
			 RNJ Barts And The London NHS Trust 593 475 567 501 — 
			 RP4 Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Foundation Trust 200 176 193 224 127 
			 RP6 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 288 178 228 188 125 
			 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 112 122 63 64 42 
			 RQM Chelsea And Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 167 155 91 88 83 
			 RQX Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 114 103 41 37 37 
			 RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,042 871 720 858 907 
			 RT3 Royal Brompton AND Harefield NHS Foundation Trust 291 226 267 335 358 
			 RV8 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 606 556 447 477 517 
			 RVL Barnet And Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 612 378 305 398 324 
			 RVR Epsom And St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 394 297 243 218 271 
			 RYJ Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 758 631 642 672 710 
			 RYQ South London Healthcare NHS Trust — 899 954 1,250 1,357 
			 Notes: 1. The table shows the organisations as they existed, at the time of each collection. 2. A last minute cancellation is one that occurs on the day the patient was due to arrive, after they have arrived in hospital or on the day of their operation. 3. Some common non-clinical reasons for cancellations by the hospital include: ward beds unavailable; surgeon unavailable; emergency case needing theatre; theatre list over-ran; equipment failure; admin error; anaesthetist unavailable; theatre staff unavailable; and critical care bed unavailable. 4. An operation which is rescheduled to a time within 24 hours of the original scheduled operation should be recorded as a postponement and not as a cancellation. The QMCO collection does not record the number of postponements. Source: Department of Health dataset QMCO

Hospitals: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many out-patient appointments were cancelled in each NHS trust in London in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Information on the number of out-patient appointments which were recorded as cancelled in each national health service trust in London between 2008-09 and 2012-13 has been placed in the Library.
	Not all NHS trusts have provided data submissions to Out-patients Hospital Episode Statistics for the period covered. In addition, some recording practice of cancellations shows some variation.
	Some providers do not record any cancellations, while others have changed recording practice in the period reported.

Meningitis

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the average (a) length and (b) cost was, including all intensive care and surgical on-costs, of a hospital admission owing to a case of bacterial meningitis in the last 12 months; [R]
	(2)  what estimate he has made of (a) hospital costs, (b) care maintenance costs, (c) litigation costs, (d) morbidity costs, (e) other categories of cost and (f) total costs including all allowances of bacterial meningitis in each year from 2008 to 2013. [R]

Jane Ellison: Information on the average length of admission for patients with a primary diagnosis of bacterial meningitis in 2012-13 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of finished admission episodes (FAEs)l; mean and median length of stay2 for episodes with a primary diagnosis of bacterial meningitis3 in England (English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector) for the year 2012-13 
			  FAEs Mean length of stay (days) Median length of stay (days) 
			 2012-13 1,953 14.92 8 
			 1 A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. 2 Length of stay (LOS) is the difference in days between the admission date and the discharge date (duration of spell), where both dates are given. LOS is based on hospital stays and only applies to ordinary admissions not day cases (unless otherwise stated). Information relating to LOS, including discharge method/destination, diagnoses and any operative procedures, is based only on the final episode of the spell. 3 The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 diagnosis fields in the hospital episode statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD)10 codes used are: G00 Bacterial meningitis, not elsewhere classified and as the primary or first secondary diagnosis: G01.X Meningitis in bacterial diseases classified elsewhere. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre. 
		
	
	Information about the cost of a hospital admission owing to a case of bacterial meningitis is not available in the format requested. This is because the cost of individual diagnoses or treatments are not collected centrally. Instead, reference costs for hospital admissions are collected by health care resource groups (HRGs), which are standard groupings of clinically similar treatments that use common levels of resource. Reference costs are the unit costs to national health service hospital trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year to NHS patients.
	Information about the weighted average unit costs in 2012-13 of HRGs that included primary diagnoses of bacterial meningitis where no significant procedure was undertaken is shown in the following table. The costs will not be wholly representative of bacterial meningitis, because the HRGs also contain other diseases and disorders.
	
		
			 Healthcare resource group weighted average national average unit costs, 2012-13 
			  Weighted average unit cost (£) Activity 
			 Adults (age 19 years and over) 2,315 23,613 
			 Children (age 18 years and under) 2,196 13,219 
			 Notes: 1. The costs shown include day cases, elective admissions, non-elective admissions and regular day or night admissions. 2. Unit costs and activity for the following HRGs were averaged for adults age 19 years and over: AA22C Cerebrovascular Accident, Nervous System Infections or Encephalopathy, with CC (complications and co-morbidities) Score 14+ AA22D Cerebrovascular Accident, Nervous System Infections or Encephalopathy, with CC Score 11-13 AA22E Cerebrovascular Accident, Nervous System Infections or Encephalopathy, with CC Score 8-10 AA22F Cerebrovascular Accident, Nervous System Infections or Encephalopathy, with CC Score 5-7 AA22G Cerebrovascular Accident, Nervous System Infections or Encephalopathy, with CC Score 0-4. 3. Unit costs and activity for the following HRGs were averaged for children age 18 years and under: (a) PA16A Major Infections with CC Score 1+ (b) PA16B Major Infections with CC Score 0. 4. Unit costs and activity for the following HRG for children age 18 years and under with additional diagnoses of cancer and agranulocytosis have not been included: (a) PA45Z Febrile Neutropenia with Malignancy. 5. It is not possible to identify any critical care costs associated with these episodes, which would have been recorded separately against other critical care HRGs. Source. NHS reference costs, 2012-13. 
		
	
	We have not made an estimate of costs relating to cases of bacterial meningitis from 2008 to 2013.
	However, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert committee that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, has been considering cost-effectiveness analyses for meningococcal B vaccine which take account of relevant costs in relation to meningococcal B disease. JCVI is due to report back in March 2014 following its meeting on 11 and 12 February 2014.

Meningitis

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many confirmed cases of (a) bacterial meningitis and (b) meningitis B there were in each of the last five years for which data is available; and how many cases of each such category resulted in death. [R]

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) collects data on laboratory confirmed cases of invasive meningococcal disease which is a major cause of bacterial meningitis in England and Wales. The data does not distinguish between presentations of invasive meningococcal, the most common presentations being meningitis and septicaemia. Cases are classified according to meningococcal capsular group including meningococcal group B.
	Table 1 shows the number of cases of confirmed meningococcal disease (all capsular groups) and meningococcal capsular group B disease in the last five years for which data are available (2007-11).
	
		
			 Table 1: Confirmed meningococcal cases in England and Wales, PHE 2007-11 
			  Cases 
			  All capsular groups Capsular group B 
			 2007 1,283 1,096 
			 2008 1,228 1,102 
			 2009 1,030 917 
			 2010 929 800 
			 2011 926 756 
		
	
	These PHE data are available at:
	www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/MeningococcalDisease/EpidemiologicalData/
	PHE does not routinely publish data on deaths from meningococcal disease; however, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes data on deaths registered in England and Wales with underlying causes. Table 2 shows the number of deaths with meningococcal disease as an underlying cause (2007-12).
	
		
			 Table 2: Reported meningococcal deaths in England and Wales, ONS 2008-12 
			  Deaths 
			 2007 75 
			 2008 77 
			 2009 60 
			 2010 62 
			 2011 69 
			 2012 37 
		
	
	ONS does not publish data on deaths due to individual meningococcal capsular groups.
	These ONS data are available at:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/mortality-statistics--deaths-registered-in-england-and-wales--series-dr-/2007/data-tables--2007.zip
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/mortality-statistics--deaths-registered-in-england-and-wales--series-dr-/2008/data-tables--2008.zip
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/mortality-statistics--deaths-registered-in-england-and-wales--series-dr-/2009/data-tables--2009.zip
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/mortality-statistics--deaths-registered-in-england-and-wales--series-dr-/2010/dr-tables-2010.xls
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/mortality-statistics--deaths-registered-in-england-and-wales--series-dr-/2011/dr-table5-2011.xls
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/mortality-statistics--deaths-registered-in-england-and-wales--series-dr-/2012/dr-tables-2012.xls

Meningitis

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the potential annual cost of providing meningitis B vaccine to all 15-year-olds. [R]

Jane Ellison: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert committee that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, has not yet made a final recommendation about the use of the meningococcal B vaccine Bexsero.
	The Department has not, therefore, estimated the potential annual cost of providing Bexsero to 15-year-olds.
	JCVI is due to report back in March 2014, having reviewed additional evidence at its meeting on 11 and 12 February 2014.

Mental Health Services: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mental health staff were employed by the NHS in each NHS trust in London in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: Information on the numbers of mental health staff employed by each national health service trust in London in each of the last five years for which figures are available has been placed in the Library.

Ovarian Cancer

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what discussions his Department has had with professional practitioner groups about screening ovarian cancer patients for the BRCA1 gene;
	(2)  what discussions his Department has had with professional practitioner groups about guidelines for ovarian cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Jane Ellison: There have been no departmental discussions with professional practitioner groups about screening ovarian cancer patients for the BRCA1 gene.
	The following departmental discussions with professional groups about guidelines for ovarian cancer diagnosis have taken place:
	2 February 2011: Joint All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Cancer (Ovarian Cancer discussion);
	1 October 2011: Pre-brief prior to Westminster Hall debate on ovarian cancer;
	12 October 2011: Westminster Hall Debate—the hon. Member for Pudsey (Stuart Andrew) ovarian cancer;
	29 November 2011: Meeting with APPG on ovarian cancer; and
	28 November 2012: Ovacome ovarian cancer services Parliamentary reception—photocall and drop in.
	In addition I met with hon. Members from the APPG on Ovarian Cancer on 3 February for a general discussion which included screening and research.

Property

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) name, (b) location, (c) floor space, (d) tenure status and (e) value is of properties (i) owned and (ii) occupied by (A) his Department and (B) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Daniel Poulter: A list of the properties owned and occupied by the Department and its arm's length bodies (ALBs) as at 10 February 2014 has been placed in the Library. This does not include occupations in NHS Property Services premises.
	Details of the Department and its ALBs property data are published on a quarterly basis and is available at:
	http://data.gov.uk/dataset/epims
	A list of the properties owned by NHS Property Services as at 10 February 2014 has been placed in the Library.
	These are properties with the company, inherited from primary care trusts (PCTs) and strategic health authorities (SHAs) upon its establishment on 1 April 2013, when PCTs and SHAs were closed as part of the Government's reforms of the national health service.
	Details of all properties within the portfolio of NHS Property Services are also available online at:
	https://nhsps.micadipr.net/portals/default2.asp
	Figures for the value of each property are not available.
	Figures for the gross internal area of some properties are not currently available.

Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on access to treatment for patients of pseudoxanthoma elasticum; and if he will make a statement. [R]

Norman Lamb: Further to my hon. Friend's debate on this subject on 18 October 2012, Official Report, column 591W, the Department has received eight representations on access to treatment for patients with pseudoxanthoma elasticum through the Department's ministerial correspondence unit.

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which paid public appointment contracts he has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men;
	(2)  what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by his Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women.

Daniel Poulter: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 607W, by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude).

Skin Cancer

Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the ongoing technology appraisal of ipilimumab for the treatment of advanced melanoma.

Norman Lamb: Ministers have had no such discussions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for the development of its guidance.
	Officials may discuss individual topics with NICE as part of the technology appraisal process, including at the topic selection stage.

Staff

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of staff of (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.

Daniel Poulter: 38% of the Department's civil servants work outside of London. The following table provides the breakdown of the headcount of that 38% by region.
	
		
			 Region Total headcount of civil servants employed outside of London as at 31 December 2013 
			 North East 1 
			 North West 38 
			 South East 18 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 657 
			 Other/Unknown or Unspecified 20 
			 Source: Department of Health Business Management System 31 December 2013 
		
	
	The Department does not hold centrally the information requested in respect of its agencies and public bodies. The information was sought from the Department's Executive Agencies and Executive Non Departmental Public Bodies.
	As at 31 December 2013, 70.5% of the staff in the Department's Executive Agencies and Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies worked outside London.
	The following table shows the numbers of staff in each location.
	
		
			 Executive Agencies and Executive Non Departmental Public Bodies (excluding NHS England) 
			 Region Total number of staff by region 
			 North West 1,194 
			 North East 686 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 1,898 
			 West Midlands 650 
			 East Midlands 312 
			 East of England 479 
			 London 4,241 
			 South East 954 
			 South West 1,542 
			 Scotland 28 
			 Wales 6 
			 Northern Ireland 0 
		
	
	NHS England has provided the following information based on its regional breakdown and national support centre staff, in the following table:
	
		
			 NHS England 
			 Region Total number of staff per region 
			 London (Regional and National Support Centre) 1,103 
			 Midlands and East 1,244 
			 North (Regional and National Support Centre) 2,518 
			 South 1,238

Trauma

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 4 September 2013, Official Report, column 147WH, what progress the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has made in developing guidance relating to trauma.

Norman Lamb: As I set out in the debate on spinal injuries held in Westminster Hall, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is developing a number of pieces of guidance on trauma. We understand that NICE expects to publish these between autumn 2015 and spring 2016. Updates on progress are regularly published on NICE's website at:
	www.nice.org.uk

Young People: Crimes of Violence

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect on public health of youth violence; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: “Protecting people Promoting Health”, a document produced by the Department in 2012 sets out the extent, nature and impact of violence for England. It identifies effective action to reduce violence and sets out a public health approach to violence prevention in England, available at:
	www.nwph.net/nwpho/Publications/Protecting%20People %20Promoting%20Health%20Web.pdf
	Public Health England (PHE) is working with the Department and the Home Office on the health of young people involved in gang and youth violence. PHE will be producing a briefing for local areas on the mental health issues affecting gang members, recognising the importance of mental health problems for those joining gangs and those involved in gangs. The Home Office's Youth Violence and Health Working Group is working with the NHS Confederation on a briefing for local Health and Wellbeing Boards on the issues of violence and health.
	PHE is also working with NHS England on the development of a new NHS Information Standard to enable accident and emergency departments to collect data on violent assaults and share these with Community Safety Partnerships in local areas to better inform planning, response and prevention of violent incidents.

DEFENCE

Aircraft Carriers

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the benefits of the addition of a ski ramp to the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers' radar cross-section.

Philip Dunne: An assessment of the effect of the addition of a ramp on the ship's radar cross-section was undertaken during the design phase of the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers programme. The effect of the addition of a ramp on the radar cross-section of the ship is negligible. I am withholding details of the radar cross-section of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, as release would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what proportion of Army officers are recruited from (a) Scotland, (b) England and Wales and (c) Northern Ireland;
	(2)  what proportion of the Army is recruited from (a) Scotland, (b) England and Wales and (c) Northern Ireland.

Andrew Murrison: The proportion of Army officers and soldiers recruited from each country within the United Kingdom for 2013-14 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Percentage 
			  Regular 
			  Officer Soldier 
			 England 89.0 86.4 
			 Scotland 6.6 6.5 
			 Wales 2.8 4.7 
			 Northern Ireland 0.5 1.9 
			 Other 1.1 0.5 
		
	
	
		
			  Reserve 
			  Officer Soldier 
			 England 76.1 78.0 
			 Scotland 10.1 11.1 
			 Wales 4.3 3.7 
			 Northern Ireland 5.1 6.3 
			 Other 4.4 0.9 
		
	
	The locations shown reflect the contact addresses recorded and may not be the home address. 'Other' refers to non-UK contact addresses, or those not identifiable.

Armed Forces: Republic of Ireland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many citizens of the Republic of Ireland are currently serving in the (a) Army and (b) Royal Navy.

Andrew Murrison: The armed forces joint personnel administration system provides service personnel with an option to record their nationality. As of 1 October 2013 there were 460 Army personnel and 70 naval service personnel (Royal Navy, the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service and the Royal Marines) who had recorded their nationality as Irish.
	These figures have been rounded.

Cybercrime

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many attempted cyber attacks on his Department were recorded in the last 12 months.

Mark Francois: Within the Ministry of Defence there are technical, organisational, procedural and physical measures in place to protect against and mitigate the impact of cyber attacks. However, we do not comment on the specific detail of cyber security incidents.

Defence Munitions

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the outsourcing of Defence Munitions Plymouth.

Andrew Murrison: The future of Defence Munitions Plymouth is being considered as part of the Weapons End-to-End Transformation Programme which is looking at optimising the weapons supply chain. The work is considering a number of options, but it is too early say what the outcome might be.

Libya

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what involvement UK armed forces currently have in Libya.

Mark Francois: The UK has a Defence Advisory Team in Tripoli of 24 personnel, commanded by a Brigadier, which works to support the UK/Libya relationship and provides advice through advisors embedded in the Libyan MOD, navy, air force, land forces and border security force. There is also a senior disarmament advisor working with the Government of Libya, the UN and international partners on disarmament issues.
	The team also provides the platform for short term training teams to support a variety of programmes, including strategic communication, developing explosive ordnance disposal schools, supporting the creation of a joint operational planning staff and naval training.
	In November 2013, the UK also established a Defence Section within the British embassy, Tripoli with a Defence Attaché.

Military Bases: Hazardous Substances

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which defence establishments are subject to Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmosphere Regulations; and which establishment received a (i) stage 1 risk assessment and (ii) stage 2 risk assessment in the most recent period for which data are available.

Andrew Murrison: A table showing all Ministry of Defence sites subject to the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmosphere Regulations, including details of the risk assessments carried out up to 14 January 2014, has been placed in the Library of the House. There is an ongoing programme to carry out risk assessments (stage 1 and/or 2) on those sites which still require them.

Military Exercises

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many British service personnel have been killed in live fire exercises in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to improve the safety of personnel during live fire exercises.

Andrew Murrison: Between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2012 (the latest date for which data are available), three UK regular armed forces personnel died while on live firing exercises, two in 2011 and one in 2012. Data for 2013 will be published in March 2014. All three of the fatalities were from the Army.
	Since 1996, the Army's ‘Land Accident Prevention and Investigation Team’ (LAIT) has investigated military accidents or incidents which cause or have the potential to cause death, serious injury or equipment loss. The LAIT makes recommendations to ensure appropriate remedial action is taken and to reduce the risk of recurrence. The LAIT is required to follow up recommendations within eight weeks to ensure remedial action has been taken.
	Each of the three fatalities detailed above has been the subject of such procedures and the recommendations have been implemented.
	Alongside any action taken by the LAIT, police, Health and Safety Executive or Coroner, the appropriate chain of command can convene a detailed service inquiry if anything additional can be learned to prevent recurrence.
	All three single services have robust lesson exploitation processes to disseminate best practice.

Ministry of Defence Police

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that the Ministry of Defence Police adhere to the College of Policing standards.

Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence Police works in close partnership with the College of Policing to ensure the maintenance of standards and professionalism in matters relating to policing, such as firearms, training, professional standards and recruitment.

Navy

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether plans to establish a Navy Safety Centre have been approved; and where this centre will be located.

Andrew Murrison: The plans for the Navy Safety Centre have been approved and it is based in Navy Command Headquarters in Portsmouth. The Centre will achieve full operating capability by the end of 2014.

Nuclear Submarines

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost of nuclear liabilities associated with berthing and decommissioning submarines, decontamination of associated sites and storage of related nuclear materials, including disaggregation by (a) out-of service submarines, (b) in-service submarines and (c) Trident replacement submarines.

Andrew Murrison: The nuclear liabilities provision contained within the Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts for 2012-13 was £3.7 billion.
	Within this total, the nuclear liabilities associated with berthing and decommissioning submarines, decontamination of associated sites and the storage of related nuclear materials are as follows:
	
		
			 Liability Description Liability (£ million) 
			 Afloat Storage 356 
			 Submarine Dismantling 718 
			 Decommissioning of Astute Boats 1 and 2 (reactor and hull) 50 
			 Long term storage and processing of spent fuel 537 
		
	
	Other than the afloat storage liability relating to out-of-service submarines and the Astute boat decommissioning liability relating to in-service submarines, the provisions cannot be disaggregated.
	It is too early in the life of the Trident replacement programme for liabilities to be accounted for.

Pay

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civil servants are on each pay grade in (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him.

Andrew Murrison: Statistics relating to the pay grade of civil servants in the Ministry of Defence, (MOD) are contained within the Quarterly Civilian Personnel Report, available at the following link:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/index.php/publications/personnel/civilian/quarterly-civilian-personnel-report/2014-01-01
	Staff numbers by pay grade for the three trading funds of the MOD are set out in the following tables:
	
		
			 Defence Support Group 
			 Pay Band Staff 
			 SCS 4 
			 PB1.L1 17 
			 PB1.L2 41 
			 PB2.L1 98 
			 PB2.L2 194 
			 PB3.L1 535 
			 PB3.L2 993 
			 PB3TTORR 21 
			 PB4.L1 247 
			 PB4.L2 236 
			 AAP2 2 
			 AAP3 1 
			 APP1 20 
			 APP2 19 
			 APP3 7 
			 Nurse 2 
			 Total 2,437 
		
	
	
		
			 United Kingdom Hydrographic Office 
			 Grade Number 
			 SCS 3 
			 C1 16 
			 C2 63 
			 B1 186 
			 B2 256 
		
	
	
		
			 B3 373 
			 Al 157 
			 A2 25 
			 Contractor 60 
			 Temp 25 
			 Total 1,164 
		
	
	
		
			 Defence Science and Technology Laboratory 
			 Pay Grade Number 
			 9 (highest) 35 
			 8 120 
			 7 396 
			 6 947 
			 5 906 
			 4 974 
			 3 249 
			 2 98 
			 1 109 
			 Total 3,834

Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  which paid public appointment contracts he has (a) renewed and (b) not renewed since May 2010; and how many such posts were held by (i) women and (ii) men;
	(2)  what the titles are of the individual public appointments that have been made by his Department since May 2010; and which of those appointees were women.

Andrew Murrison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) on 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 607W.

Redundancy

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of recent redundancies on the level of suitably experienced and qualified personnel.

Andrew Murrison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 January 2014, Official Report, column 220W, to the hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones).

Staff

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of staff of (a) his Department and (b) agencies and public bodies accountable to him work outside of London; and in which local authorities such staff are located.

Andrew Murrison: The proportion of service personnel and civilians working outside London is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Proportion of Ministry of Defence (MOD) personnel stationed outside London as at 1 October 2013 
			 Percentage 
			  Total UK regulars MOD civilians 
			 Total outside London (Worldwide) 96.3 97.1 94.1 
			 Total outside London (UK) 95.8 96.7 93.2 
		
	
	Data on the stationed location of MOD personnel by local authority area is available in Quarterly Location Statistics, accessible at the following link:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/index.php/publications/personnel/combined/quarterly-location-statistics/2013-10-01

Trident

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what recent estimate he has made of the cost at outturn prices of the Trident replacement programme;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the (a) expenditure and percentage share of his Department's procurement budget that the design and construction of the Trident replacement submarines will represent and (b) what the running costs and percentage share of his Department's overall spending of the existing Trident nuclear weapons system will be in each of the next 10 years;
	(3)  what the estimated annual expenditure and percentage share of his Department's procurement budget the design and construction of the Astute-class submarines will represent in each of the next 10 years.

Andrew Murrison: Current forecast costs, including planned Submarine Enterprise Performance Programme efficiency measures, indicate that we remain within the 2006 White Paper estimates of £11 billion-£14 billion (at 2006-07 prices) for the Successor platform costs (assuming a four boat fleet). This equates to some £25 billion at out-turn prices.
	I refer the hon. Member to the Ministry of Defence Major Projects Report for 2013, published today by the National Audit Office, which includes the latest estimate of costs for the Astute programme.
	The in-service costs of the UK's nuclear deterrent, which include the Atomic Weapons Establishment's costs, are around 5-6% of the defence budget.
	The Department's budget beyond 2015-16 has not been agreed and will be subject to consultation in the next spending review. Additionally, estimates on individual projects are subject to ongoing negotiations with industry. Therefore, I am withholding details of the proposed spending and annualised percentages at project level, as to release this information would be likely to impact upon the formulation of Government policy and future negotiations with industry. The Department annually publishes detail on equipment expenditure for the next 10 years in the Defence Equipment Plan. The latest version was published in 2012 (DMC00575 01-13) and I expect to publish the 2013 version in the near future.

Trident

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the annual expenditure on the Trident nuclear weapons system, including all capital expenditure at HMNB Clyde, AWE Aldermaston and AWE Burghfield, has been since 2000.

Andrew Murrison: Annual expenditure on the Trident nuclear weapons system, comprising D5 missile and warhead costs only, cannot be separately identified.
	Certain costs, such as some expenditure at Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde, relate to multiple activities, which cannot be broken down into individual elements.

Trident Missiles

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent estimate he has made of the cost at outturn prices of the D5 missile extension programme.

Andrew Murrison: The current estimate of the cost of the Trident D5 Life Extension programme at out-turn prices is in the region of £250 million.

Trident Missiles

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent estimate he has made of the cost of developing and procuring a replacement missile for the Trident D5 missile for the remainder of the replacement submarine service life after 2042.

Andrew Murrison: None.